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Treatment/Synopsis

The Falafel Goddess
a film by joshua bee alafia

The Falafel Goddess is a story about three couples' and their trials and tribulations in New York, 2001. Though the protagonists are friends or acquaintances of one-another, their worlds are often as diverse as if six New Yorkers were taken at random from Grand Central Station. The destruction of the World Trade Center at the top of the third act marks the culmination of chaos for each of our protagonists, and they each are faced with circumstances that alter the course of their lives. The Falafel Goddess is about choices, and the distinction between following impulses and intuition.

Fatima, a Dominican-Palestinian has a marriage terminating argument with her compulsive gambler husband and finds herself stranded at the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, standing on the sidewalk with nothing but her two sons and their suitcases. A Lebanese couple, Pavil and his wife Mona, find Fatima and sons and offer to house them in a storage apartment and employ Fatima at their falafel restaurant. Fatima has a magical alluring quality about her and brings a whole lot of business to the restaurant. She soon has to negotiate her earning a living and dodging Pavil's advances.

Rasaan, an African American High School teacher, is undergoing the Yoruba initiation into priesthood, and must wear white for a year and remain celibate for the initial three months. It's going smoothly until he meets his new neighbor Fatima, and falls in love at first sight. He is challenged with building a relationship with her without touching her. As Pavil starts sweating Fatima, he also must keep a cool head and stay away from conflict, which becomes a harder and harder thing to do.

Tony, Filipino, Rasaan's housemate, a kick-boxer and personal trainer, finds himself in a health products peddling pyramid sales cult. His girlfriend, Tanya, becomes estranged by his obsessive-compulsive behavior, and is the voice of reason he takes for granted as he becomes immersed in the pyramid. The more he sells, the more folks he burns, the more chaotic his life becomes, until it peaks as he's suffers his first defeat by knock out in the ring. As the World Trade Center is destroyed, Tony goes on a vigilante mission to defend the victims of anti-Muslim sentiment, clad in turban, toting the Holy Koran in hand.

Mocha and Ray are newlyweds. Mocha is a struggling actress and Ray is a teacher at Rasaan's High School. Mocha works at a trendy French bistro where Khalid, an R&B sex symbol, frequents regularly. The fact that Mocha is an African American woman married to a white man, becomes a fixation in Khalid's mind and he offers to help Mocha's career if she comes and hangs out with him. She finally visits him and is momentarily seduced by his charms as he steals a kiss. When she tells Ray what happened, Ray's jealousy drives him to plotting Khalid's murder.

The Falafel Goddess is a cinema verite/magical realism piece that is scored by DJs who often scratch and interact directly with the action on the screen. It's an ensemble piece that celebrates New York's rich diversity and leaves the viewer with the New York aftertaste that is second millennium pre-aquarian age now.