Concrete Land is a 2026 documentary by Asmahan Bkerat about the Najar family, a three-generation Palestinian Bedouin family living near Amman as development and the threat of eviction unsettle their home and daily life. Its intimate, observational approach lets family routines, relationships and ties to the land carry the story instead of relying on interviews to explain what viewers should think.
What is Concrete Land about?
The film follows the Najar family and their animals at a camp on the outer edge of Amman. The Palestine Film Institute describes the family as facing eviction and an uncertain future; the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) describes development closing in on the grazing space. IDFA says the land has been sold. Those are descriptions from the film’s festival and institute listings, not an independent determination of ownership or legal status.
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Festival descriptions identify the family as Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin. That language refers to the people at the center of this film; it should not be generalized to Bedouin or Palestinian communities as a whole.
How does the film tell its story?
VIFF says Bkerat filmed the family over eight years and visited almost every day. Rather than using interviews to guide the audience toward an explanation, the film builds its account through meals, work, songs, school routines, disagreements, care and the family’s relationship with its sheep. The effect is to make displacement visible through what might otherwise seem like ordinary life: routines continue while the space and security around them change.
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That choice is a strength if you value patient observation and close attention to daily relationships. It also means the film does not function as a comprehensive explainer of the wider politics or legal history behind the family’s situation. Its focus is the family’s lived experience, not a broad contextual survey.
What the three generations bring to the film
The grandparents
Bkerat has said the grandparents carry trauma from being forced out of Palestine. Their presence connects the current threat to a history of displacement without making the film’s emotional weight depend on exposition alone.
The middle generation
The parents’ generation has sacrificed futures and taken on hard labor to survive, according to Bkerat. Their everyday responsibilities give the family’s uncertainty a practical dimension: the pressure is not abstract when work, care and the ability to stay are woven together.
The youngest generation
IDFA says Eman is ten at the start of the film and grows older as it unfolds. Bkerat describes the youngest generation as facing identity pressures, social pressure and racism. Eman’s experience gives the film a way to show how a changing home and social environment reach children as well as adults.
Why is it called Concrete Land?
Bkerat said the title came from the contrast she observed between encroaching concrete and the richness of the land: “We saw the striking juxtaposition between the bareness and coldness of the concrete, and the richness and beauty of the land.” The image captures the film’s central tension: development is not simply a backdrop, but a force that changes the family’s surroundings and sense of continuity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does the film’s approach work?
Its observational method makes room for atmosphere and small details rather than forcing every scene into an argument. Liam O’Dell’s October 6, 2026 review notes the contrast between early hillside serenity and later construction, and highlights Eman’s experience of repeated loss and Rana Eid’s sound design. O’Dell also calls the pace slow and awards the film three stars; that is one critic’s response, not a consensus verdict.
The measured pace will suit viewers willing to sit with everyday scenes and gradual change. Those seeking a brisk, interview-led account with extensive political background may find the film’s narrow, family-centered focus less explanatory than they want. Its value lies in sustained proximity to one family, not in claiming to represent every experience of displacement.
Director, language, runtime and credits
Asmahan Bkerat directed Concrete Land. VIFF lists it as Arabic with English subtitles and gives a runtime of 101 minutes. The BFI also lists 101 minutes, while IDFA lists 99 minutes; festival runtimes therefore vary by two minutes, so use the screening’s own listing when planning.
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Credits differ in scope across festival listings. VIFF credits Bkerat as director, producer and cinematographer, and Ban Maraqa as producer, screenwriter and editor. IDFA additionally credits Ahmad Jalboush and Hamza Hamida for cinematography, Niels Pagh Andersen and Qutaiba Barhamji for editing, and Rana Eid for sound design. IDFA lists Ban Maraqa for Namla Productions and Martina Droandi for world sales.
Where can you watch Concrete Land?
VIFF and the BFI document festival programming in 2026, but those event listings do not establish current home-viewing access. The available listings do not confirm a streaming, rental or physical release. For a screening, consult the relevant festival’s current program and ticket page; for access outside a festival, check an official distributor or sales listing rather than assuming the film is available on a particular service.
Content notes
Festival content notes include racism, classism, school bullying, forced migration, displacement and animal death. Viewers who prefer to know about these subjects in advance may want to take them into account.
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