What some of the TRADES AND CRITICS said on EYES OF A THIEF

Political film making at its most tellingly personal and accessible.. (Eyes of a) Thief is a fine film which, like Najwa Najjar's first feature Pomegranates and Myrrh, wraps the personal and the political into a seamless whole, using the framework of a psychological thriller as a vehicle for its enquiry into the effects of physical and psychological violence on the people compelled to live under it.”
Jonathan Holland Hollywood Report “Eyes of a Thief”

One of my favorite films -- directed by a woman -- wasn't in the official program of the Berlinale but rather screening away from the festival. Eyes of a Thief directed by Najwa Najjar … What Najjar does do beautifully is create a layer of subtle analysis, the kind that perhaps most filmmakers would do away with for wider audience impact, for easier comprehension. The Berlinale Diaries: Woman Power, the Eyes of a Thief Have It and Darren Aronofsky Nina Rothe HuffPost Entertainment

In Eyes of a Thief, Najjar presents the Mideast conflict from the point of view of a Palestinian fighting against .. an occupying force. “[American Sniper] was the view of an occupier demonizing the people that they occupied in order to allow for the killing, and allow for it to be acceptable. … It’s important to show different narratives.” Berlin: War Projects Offer Alternative to 'American Sniper' Alex Ritman The Hollywood Reporter

Perhaps Najjar's biggest accomplishment, however, is that she humanizes the Palestinian resistance...And when most Palestinian films attempt to show Palestinians in a one-dimensional positive manner, that is beyond criticism, Najjar presents a much more complex --and realistic -- picture of the internal Palestinian fabric.
Daoud Kuttab Huffington Post “Najwa Najjar's Film Reflects Palestinian Humanity”

It is a remarkable achievement to have brought that struggle into the mainstream, and to have done so by winding together elements that are both familiar and new: a family reunited, a resistance fighter confronting his oppressors, and the diversion of water resources as one aspect of Israel's particular brand of settler-colonialism. Eyes of a Thief takes Palestine into mainstream cinema By: Lana Asfour AlarabyUK

Never once does Najjar fall into the trap of idealised unearned emotion, she's far more interested in these characters as human beings and never motors towards didacticism. LFPP2014: Eyes of a Thief Review D. W. Mault CINEVUE
Najjar dares to raise more ordinary questions of human follies otherwise denied a people caught in a prolonged national struggle. Getting Hollywood's nod for Palestinian film What will it take for Hollywood to recognise Palestinian cinema? Hamid Dabashi ALJAZEERA

Palestinian movie Eyes of a Thief received a well-deserved standing ovation from a full house at its Arab and African premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival on Monday … Eyes of a Thief is a heartfelt and honest portrayal of an embattled nation that, in good times and bad, ultimately chooses to determine its own destiny, rather than allowing others to dictate it. Najwa Najjar’s ‘Eyes of a Thief’ Wows Cairo International Film Festival Crowd - Film Insider / Alia'a