Three years ago, Farah Nabulsi’s short film “The Present” landed an Oscar nomination and won a BAFTA Award by stripping down the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis on the West Bank to a father and daughter’s simple quest to buy an anniversary present. Nabulsi, who was born in London to Palestinian parents, returns to that region and conflict with her feature debut, “The Teacher,” but there’s nothing simple about the morass into which her filmmaking plunges us this time around.
Inspired by true events, the film is set among Palestinians on the West Bank, and like “The Present” it’s a portrait in futility.