May in the Summer

To all appearances, May Brennan (Cherien Dabis) has it all -- she’s intelligent, gorgeous, the recipient of rave reviews for her recently published book and set to marry her loving fiancé Ziad (Alexander Siddig), a distinguished New York scholar. But immediately upon returning to her familial hometown of Amman, Jordan for the wedding, the cracks in her seemingly perfect life begin to show.

May’s headstrong, born-again Christian mother Nadine (Hiam Abbass) disapproves of Ziad’s Muslim faith and is firm in her decision to not attend the ceremony. Her sisters Dalia (Alia Shawkat)and Yasmine (Nadine Malouf) revert to behaving like rebellious teenagers as their estranged father Edward (Bill Pullman) awkwardly attempts to make amends. Confronted with the wounds of her parent’s long-broken relationship, coupled with the unavoidable clash of old-world and modern values, May is lead to question the direction her life is taking. Her once carefully structured world appears to unravel as she grapples with her own truths in this fresh, exotic look at a woman caught in the crossroads between tradition and choice.
MAY IN THE SUMMER, written and directed by Cherien Dabis (AMREEKA), stars Dabis, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Ritu Singh Pande, Hiam Abbass and Bill Pullman. The film was produced by Dabis, Alix Madigan-Yorkin and Christopher Tricarico.