RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Indian actress who starred in “Slumdog Millionaire” has moved from the slums of Mumbai to the squalid refugee camps of the West Bank in a new film: the story of a defiant Palestinian girl who wants to fight against Israel in a coming of age story with a Mideast twist. “Miral,” directed by award-winning artist Julian Schnabel and with cameos by Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave, stands apart for more than its star power. Due for US release in December, it's also likely to give Western audiences – some perhaps more used to movies depicting Arabs as violent – a compassionate view of the Palestinians. For Mumbai-raised Freida Pinto, 25, who became a star after Slumdog shot from obscurity to box-office success and eight Academy Awards, it was a chance for a different setting. “Miral” sweeps across decades of the Mideast conflict. The cinematography lays out beautiful Palestinian landscapes and Pinto glows in her scenes. But the dialogue comes across at times as preachy, and Schnabel seems to try pack in as much Palestinian history as possible in the 112-minute film. For the filmmakers, the message is the key. “The ordinary American who knows nothing about Palestine and knows nothing about our cause – it will be the first time he will sit and watch this story,” said Yasmine Al-Massri, a 31-year-old Paris-based Palestinian actress who plays Pinto's mother. At a news conference in Ramallah before the screening late Thursday, some Palestinian movie crew members said they hoped Pinto's star power would draw audiences into cinemas and that Schnabel's Jewish faith would deflect claims of bias. “It's a Jewish American director who is telling a Palestinian story,” said Al-Massri. Schnabel was named “best director” at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and awarded him a top prize for his movie “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”
