After her parents' farm is shut down, aspiring singer Lisa soon finds work on a modern farm run by a Palestinian family who face a lot of prejudice in their conservative small town. She quickly becomes close to her new boss, Dalia, and their friendship turns into a deep, albeit complicated, passion. But Dalia is actually about to marry her childhood sweetheart, and Lisa is struggling with the impending death of her father and her family's narrow-minded attitude...

Inspired by Shamim Sarif's own story and filmed in wonderfully sun-drenched images, the romantic drama POLARIZED raises important questions about the boundaries of love, sex, and religion in the moral mirror image of a small-town universe: a powerfully acted film, an ode to the freedom of honest feelings, and at the same time a deeply emotional cry against racism and intolerance.

POLARIZED is a British-Canadian drama from 2023, written and directed by Shamim Sarif. The film premiered at the BFI Flare Festival and won the Audience Award at the Canadian Film Festival. Holly Deveaux shines in the lead role as Lisa, alongside Maxine Denis as Dalia.