Ever since the first series of ¡°Pop Idol¡± screened on British TV in 2001, the televised music competition has become practically inescapable, with franchises springing up everywhere from Macedonia to the Maldives. Given how cannily stage-managed these ¡°reality¡± shows really are, though, it almost comes as a surprise when a genuinely inspirational story emerges from one of them.
That¡¯s what happened in 2013 when a Palestinian singer from a refugee camp in Gaza, Mohammed Assaf, won the pan-national ¡°Arab Idol,¡± bringing hope to a region that generally doesn¡¯t have much to smile about.
Assaf¡¯s story is now the subject of a breezy biopic, ¡°The Idol.¡± This uplifting drama marks a change of pace for Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian director previously best known for his Oscar-nominated films ¡°Omar¡± (2013) and ¡°Paradise Now¡± (2005) ¡ª tense thrillers that took a far bleaker view of the region¡¯s problems.
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