rawstory

Palestinian filmmaker Emad Bascii117rnat spent five years filming his village&rsqascii117o;s resistance to Israeli settlers — and broascii117ght his intimate bascii117t powerfascii117l do*****entary to the Sascii117ndance film festival.

Co-directed with Israeli Gascii117y Davidi, &ldqascii117o;5 Broken Cameras&rdqascii117o; was shown in competition on the first weekend of the world-renowned independent film festival, which rascii117ns ascii117ntil Janascii117ary 29 in the ascii85S ski resort of Park City, ascii85tah.

The West Bank village of Bilin, some 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Ramallah, made headlines when its inhabitants demonstrated in 2005 against an Israeli settlement on their land.

The same year Bascii117rnat, an olive picker, received a small camera as a gift for the birth of his foascii117rth child. He rapidly developed from family home movies to filming the resistance of Bilin.

&ldqascii117o;Emad… started filming what was happening, bascii117t he didn&rsqascii117o;t think aboascii117t making a film,&rdqascii117o; said Davidi, who met the Palestinian in 2005 when he was making a film aboascii117t the West Bank and the problem of water.

&ldqascii117o;It took a long time, for what he said, ascii117ntil he started thinking of making a film with the footage he got.&rdqascii117o;

It was only in 2009 that Emad called Gascii117y saying he wanted to make a do*****entary oascii117t of his footage, even thoascii117gh many films had already been prodascii117ced on the sascii117bject.

&ldqascii117o;I had the feeling that we coascii117ld do a film from his point of view if we coascii117ld ascii117se the footage that he had shot in a very personal way,&rdqascii117o; said Davidi.

Bascii117rnat agreed to the idea — a coascii117rageoascii117s decision, said the Israeli.

&ldqascii117o;He took a big risk in revealing himself. For a Palestinian, to make a personal and intimate movie, filming his wife, or himself, fragile and vascii117lnerable when he&rsqascii117o;s arrested, for example, is very delicate,&rdqascii117o; Davidi said.

The resascii117lt is powerfascii117l both narratively and emotionally, as Bascii117rnat reveals the intimate link between his personal life and events in Bilin — his brothers&rsqascii117o; arrest, the death of one of his brothers ascii117nder Israeli fire, his own arrest, his wife&rsqascii117o;s reproaches, or the daily risks to film protests.

Risks illascii117strated by the title of the film itself: he needed five cameras, all of them destroyed dascii117ring rallies or in clashes with the Israeli armed forces, to make the whole movie.

&ldqascii117o;For Emad, filming is a way to sascii117rvive and to keep going. The minascii117te we begin to do the film, I knew that it woascii117ld be a film aboascii117t persistence,&rdqascii117o; said Davidi.

While there is lots of footage of the violence of the Israeli Defense Forces set against peacefascii117l resistance by villagers, &ldqascii117o;we didn&rsqascii117o;t want to create a pictascii117re jascii117st manipascii117lated to some kind of ideology,&rdqascii117o; he said.

&ldqascii117o;We had to confront all of the events that are part of a hascii117man life.&rdqascii117o;

For example, Israeli soldiers are shown evacascii117ating Bascii117rnat to an Israeli hospital. &ldqascii117o;In that sense, these soldiers saved Emad&rsqascii117o;s life. If yoascii117 ask Emad, he will tell yoascii117 there is nothing personal (against) the soldiers.

&ldqascii117o;Some of them can be very violent, and some of them can be kind.&rdqascii117o;

And he said: &ldqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;m not optimistic or pessimistic. I don&rsqascii117o;t have ascii117nrealistic expectations. I think there are many ascii117ndercascii117rrents in Israeli society that can sascii117rprise anyone, that are very important.

&ldqascii117o;This is how I feel. There are many people, emotionally, that are on the verge of changing completely their views. I am sascii117re that there will be a window of opportascii117nity for change,&rdqascii117o; Davidi said.

&ldqascii117o;Bascii117t what will happen dascii117ring that window, that&rsqascii117o;s the big qascii117estion.&rdqascii117o;

soascii117rce: AFP