Interview: Ziad Doueiri talks about his new film 'The Attack'

Ziad Doueiri is a visionary director. But before he was director, Doueiri worked with renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino on films like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. He grew up in Lebanon before moving to Los Angeles, where he attended film school and began his career. 

In 1998, his directorial debut, West Beirut, became the first Lebanese film to be distributed in the United States and was given rave reviews. Doueiri has been writing and directing his own films since then. 

Doueiri's newest film, The Attack, tells the story of Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman), who is a renowned and award-winning Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv. On the day of an attack that’s claimed to have been set up by a suicide bomber, Amin helps take care of the injured, completely unaware that his wife Siham (Reymond Amsalem) was also killed in the bombing. A couple of days later—and still believing that his wife is away visiting her grandfather—Amin is called into the hospital to identify Siham’s body. The police arrest Amin to question him about his wife's involvement in the attack (they identify her as the suicide bomber).

In shock and feeling betrayed, he is in denial that his wife could have committed such an act. An act he didn't know she’d been a part of. After being released from jail, Amin searches for answers and discovers things he doesn't expect to find that change his outlook on everything he thought he knew.

In the interview, Doueiri talks about adapting the screenplay, which is based on the book by Yasmina Khadra, what inspired him to take the project, and his main character's journey, among other things. 

You can listen to the interview below! 

The Attack is in theaters today. 

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