Julian Schnabel directs this drama about an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the aftermath of the first Arab-Israeli war. Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) sets up an orphanage following the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 that soon becomes home to almost 2,000 children. Seven-year-old Miral (Freida Pinto) ends up in the orphanage following her mother's death. Brought up there in an atmosphere of peace and stability, she is unaware of the troubles that surround her until she goes to teach at a refugee camp at the age of 17. There, she finds herself torn between the fight for the future of her people and Mama Hind's belief that education is the only possible route to peace.