things i've been watching and reading re: palestine

I'm writing a script this semester that takes place in Gaza, so I've been trying to get my hands on as many movies that have been shot in Palestine as humanly possible, as well as watching a number of films that tangentially relate to the kind of story I'm writing (think, things that would come up in the "also recommended" box if you looked up my movie on Netflix).

And since I can't possibly watch a movie without having an opinion on it, here are my capsule reviews of what I've seen so far:

DOCUMENTARIES

Gaza Strip: a somewhat amateurish production from a structural/artistic point of view, but worth watching for its straightforward, unadorned look at daily life in Gaza.  Hearing thirteen-year-old boys talk like old men about how they're tired of living is pretty devastating.

Death in Gaza: a really superb film with a quintessentially Gazan story behind it.  British documentarians Saira Shah and James Miller, who had worked on two documentaries about Afghanistan together and were experienced at filming in war zones, set out to make a film about Israeli and Palestinian children caught up in a very adult war.  Originally titled "Learning to Hate," they wanted to look at how children on both sides learned to villify the other.  They filmed a little in the West Bank and a lot in Gaza, and were preparing to film the Israeli side of the story.  But on their last day of filming in Rafah, James Miller was shot and killed by the IDF.  The members of the film crew were wearing vests and helmets clearly marked with "TV" and carrying a white flag.  The incident was captured on tape by a local news crew that was also in the area, and watching the footage it's quite hard to believe that it was anything other than deliberate murder.  After James's death, the rest of the filmmakers edited the material into Death in Gaza, a really incredible look at the lives of young people growing up surrounded by violence.  Like Gaza Strip, it follows young teenagers, including two memorable twelve-year-old boys.  Watching the amazing footage Miller was able to capture just reinforces the point that a truly great filmmaker was lost.  Highly recommended.

Wall: a fascinating, if somewhat slow-paced, look at the separation wall that encircles the West Bank.  Most interesting are the Israelis living near the wall who oppose its construction.

PALESTINIAN-MADE FEATURE FILMS

Rana's Wedding: Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad tells the story of a young woman desperate to secure permission to marry her older boyfriend by a pre-arranged deadline.  The fact that what is really a simple administrative task becomes a Herculean effort shows the immense barriers Palestinians face in just carrying about their daily lives.  The film feels a bit awkward at times, and Rana is a cipher, but the glimpse into daily life under occupation makes up for these drawbacks (the original Arabic title is "Another Day in Jerusalem").  Filmed on location in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Paradise Now: also from Hany Abu-Assad, and absolutely brilliant.  Two friends from the West Bank are selected to become suicide bombers, but they get separated on their way to Tel Aviv and each must decide for himself whether or not to carry out the mission. In Paradise Now, I think Abu-Assad achieved what he was trying to do with Rana's Wedding: tell an independent, dramatic story that takes place in a world where the occupation is inevitably, unavoidably wrapped around every aspect of people's lives.  The result is compelling, nuanced, human, and even quite funny at times, with the kind of black humor that only emerges out of tragedy.  Filmed on location in Nablus and Nazareth.  As with Rana's Wedding, there were numerous scenes where I wondered if what I was watching was staged or captured from reality.  It seemed very much to be the latter, which made me a little fearful for the actors and crew.

OTHER FILMS

Traitor: I think this film, about an African-born Special Forces guy who infiltrates an al-Qaeda-like terrorist network, thought it was being daring, but it stayed firmly in safe political territory.  Unlike both Rendition and Paradise Now, Traitor never sees through the conceit that people who are willing to die in order to kill must have inscrutable, irrational motivations for doing so.  This film is also built around a twist that I found to be entirely too neat and clever, and somehow uncomfortably smug.

Rendition: a perfect film.  Already raved about it; see previous post.

Bloody Sunday: I wanted to like this film more than I did.  It seemed like the main point of the film was to say, "Hey, look, this happened"--which is important for any historical event where the truth has been buried and obfuscated.  But I found that such a narrow focus on the day left me wanting more.  We are following certain characters, but we end up knowing very little about them.  Who are they?  How did this event change each of them?  We never really see.  Also, this is a bit nit-picky, but I thought the constant cross-cutting as the demonstration was escalating actually broke the tension, rather than increased it. A good film, but it lacked the stylistic power of, say, The Battle of Algiers, or the emotional power of, say, Milk.  We're watching this film in Script Analysis later this semester, so maybe I'll derive some greater appreciation of it from class.

BOOKS

Drinking the Sea at Gaza: AMAZING.  In the 1990s, Amira Hass became the first Israeli journalist to live in Gaza.  Ever.  All her Israeli friends thought she was crazy, but there was something that compelled this woman (like Ari Folman, the child of Holocaust survivors) to make her home in the world's largest ghetto.  The book that resulted, as well as her extensive reportage for Ha'aretz, is inspired.  Hass captures not only the terror, misery, and humiliation of occupation, but also the warmth, solidarity, courage, and ironic gallows wit that's a necessary bulwark against complete depression in a land under siege.  A must read for anyone who wants to understand the humanity as well as the politics of occupied Palestine.

BLOGS

In a world where physical movement is often very difficult and the mainstream media is often restricted or neglectful, the Internet becomes a very important means of communication.  There is a sizable community of bloggers reporting from Gaza, who often have far more to say about the situation on the ground than the press does.

I mentioned both In Gaza and tales to tell in an earlier post.  I've also started reading Tabula Gaza, which is quite good.  Eva Bartlett at In Gaza has an extensive blogroll which I've still not had a chance to fully explore.