Zoe Saldana Signs On for US-Palestinian Short ‘It’s Complicated’
DUBAI — Oscar-winning actress Zoe Saldana has signed on as an executive producer of “It’s Complicated,” a short film centered on Palestinian womanhood that will premiere at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles next month.
The film, written by and starring US Palestinian filmmaker Iman Karram, follows Yara, a Palestinian-American screenwriter in Los Angeles who develops a deep friendship with Hana, a poet and teacher in Gaza, played by Jordanian American actress Dina Shuhaiber. Their bond grows through online Arabic lessons until war pulls them apart, leaving Yara to reckon with grief, diasporic guilt, and the responsibility to keep Hana’s story alive.
Lebanese-American filmmaker Darine Hotait directed the project. The production lineup includes Alana Duqum, Zoe Marie Jimenez, and Matt Van Tine, with Kais Karram and Zane Karram of Malibu Mutt Studios also on the team. Eli Zavala of Splinter Pictures serves as an executive producer alongside Saldana.
Saldana, who won an Oscar in 2025 for “Emilia Perez,” said she was moved by the film’s tenderness. “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.
Karram drew the story from her own life. “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 said.
The 22nd HollyShorts Film Festival runs from August 13 to 23 in Los Angeles and features more than 400 short films from around the world.
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