This provocative new documentary by Gil Karni goes behind the ghetto walls of the Israeli city of Ramlah to bring us a year in the life of budding Palestinian hip-hop star Sameh Zakout, a.k.a. Saz. In this year we will see him transform from a young unknown rap singer into an international success, his youthful quest for identity transformed into the voice of a struggling nation. The film also focuses on his relationship with his aging grandfather, an Israeli-Arab communist and a refugee of the 1948 war. Their conversations reveal their differing ideologies: “I don’t see my Palestine being built by blood,” says Saz. “It should be built by negotiations, not bombings. My bullets are my rhymes. My M-16 is my microphone.”

Hailed by Entertainment Weekly as “a unique portrait of Arab life inside Israel,” “SAZ” is distributed by Choices, Inc .The DVD’s special features include bonus audio tracks from Saz’s new upcoming album, “Min Yum,” and a lesson plan/guidebook for educators. The film is available online at www.choicesvideo.net.