Samer Saifan

Set against the dim glow of streetlights and the hum of passing sirens, Stay in the Car captures one night in the life of a fifteen-year-old girl waiting in her mother's El Camino and the quiet reckoning that unfolds in the stillness. Based on real events, Stay in the Car explores the fragile line between safety and survival, love and neglect. It invites audiences into a world where survival depends on silence, and one young girl must decide whether to remain in her mother's chaos or step into her own uncertain freedom.

The story follows a day in the life of Ismail, a Palestinian photographer whose American upbringing was shaped by his grandfather’s displacement during the 1948 Palestine Nakba. When Ismail’s mother gifts him his grandfather’s keffiyeh—a traditional Palestinian scarf—it triggers an internal struggle between shame and pride in his cultural identity, all unfolding against the ominous backdrop of rising violence against Palestinians.

Stranded on an isolated desert road after his car breaks down, a young man seeks refuge in a mysterious stranger's home, only to uncover a chilling, paranormal secret.