Shown: January 6, 2010 at 6pm
Director : Elia Suleiman
Country : Palestine
Release Date : 2009
Duration : 109 mins
Language : Hebrew and Arabic
Subtitles : Yes
An account of the creation of the Israeli state from 1948 to the present. In four episodes, Suleiman recounts family stories inspired by his father Fuad’s private diaries starting from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948, and his mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country during the same period. In addition, Suleiman also combines his own memories in an attempt to provide a portrait of the daily life of the Palestinians who were labelled “Israeli-Arabs” after they chose to remain in their country and become a minority.
“Suleiman’s approach, anchored as it is in minutiae and the absurd, manages to rescue the Arab-Israeli issue from its usual hijacking by ideology.” (Joumane Chahine – Film Comment Magazine)