Ever since the first series of "Pop Idol" screened on British TV in 2001, the televised music competition has become practically inescapable, with franchises springing up everywhere from Macedonia to the Maldives. Given how cannily stage-managed these "reality" shows really are, though, it almost comes as a surprise when a genuinely inspirational story emerges from one of them.
That's what happened in 2013 when a Palestinian singer from a refugee camp in Gaza, Mohammed Assaf, won the pan-national "Arab Idol," bringing hope to a region that generally doesn't have much to smile about.
Assaf's story is now the subject of a breezy biopic, "The Idol." This uplifting drama marks a change of pace for Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian director previously best known for his Oscar-nominated films "Omar" (2013) and "Paradise Now" (2005) — tense thrillers that took a far bleaker view of the region's problems.