Noces

A close-knit, loving Pakistani family living in Belgium is slowly torn apart when daughter (the mesmerizing Lina El Arabi) resists her traditionalist parents' decision to force her into an arranged marriage to a man back in their homeland. Eighteen-year-old Zahira-who, in the film's opening moments, is seen talking to a doctor about terminating her unplanned pregnancy-is not the conforming type: she's as much a Westernized teen as her best friend Aurore (Alice de Lencquesaing). But her father (Babak Karimi) and mother (Neena Kulkarn), though sympathetic, insist on adhering to conservative codes, a situation that can only lead to heartbreak... (Palm Springs International Film Festival)