DUBAI: Oscar-winning US actress Zoe Saldana has signed on as an executive producer of “It’s Complicated,” a short film centered on Palestinian womanhood that will have its world premiere at Los Angeles’ HollyShorts Film Festival in August.
The film was written by and stars US Palestinian filmmaker Iman Karram, who also produced it. It follows Yara, a Palestinian-American screenwriter based in Los Angeles who strikes up online Arabic lessons with Hana, a poet and teacher in Gaza, played by Jordanian American actress Dina Shuhaiber.
Their sessions grow into a deep friendship rooted in shared ambition, humor and sisterhood, until war pulls them apart. In the aftermath, Yara is left to reckon with grief, diasporic guilt and a responsibility to keep Hana’s story alive.
Directing duties went to Lebanese-American filmmaker Darine Hotait. The production lineup includes Karram, Alana Duqum, Zoe Marie Jimenez and Matt Van Tine, with Kais Karram and Zane Karram of Malibu Mutt Studios also on the team, while Eli Zavala of Splinter Pictures serves as an executive producer alongside Saldana.
Saldana, who won an Oscar in 2025 for “Emilia Perez,” threw her weight behind the project. “Iman has made a deeply personal film about identity, grief, sisterhood and the responsibility artists feel to carry the stories of their communities forward,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “I was moved by the tenderness of the relationship at the center of the film and by Iman’s commitment to telling a story rooted in Palestinian womanhood with honesty, humor and heart. I’m proud to support her voice and the team behind ‘It’s Complicated’ as the film begins its festival journey.”
For Karram, the story was drawn from life. “It was inspired by a real relationship with my Arabic tutor that profoundly reshaped my understanding of identity and how I want to use my voice as an artist,” she said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“What began as online Arabic lessons with Hana grew into a friendship and a Palestinian sisterhood that made me feel truly seen from the other side of the world,” she added. “She made me feel enough, exactly as I am, and gave me the courage to embrace my voice, stand in my values, and tell the stories that are important to me.”
The 22nd, Oscar-qualifying, HollyShorts Film Festival runs from Aug. 13-23 in Los Angeles, with a program of more than 400 short films from around the world.
