Friday, February 08, 2013
CLOSE UP
Today's film was the Palestinian film
Academy nominee for best documentary and a NYTimes Critics' Pick.
The cameras belong to Emad Burnat, a small farmer in the Palestinian village of Bilin. Bilin is right in the path of the expanding Israeli "settlements". These are collected in a cohesive social document along with Emad's story.
Eyewitness news. Right in our faces. On the lines.
It is one of those things we read about and have some distance from. These short films shot by just a regular guy, but with great skill, bring it all up close and personal.
First and foremost, the encroachments are illegal. It takes five years to remove a fence that the Israeli army has defended vigorously and it is taken down.
But in the meantime, five cameras, a camera a year more or less, are damaged or destroyed in skirmishes with the militant villagers.
Second thing, the "settlements" are huge, dense tenement type buildings. I sort of thought that they were little houses and shit. No. Big buildings that destroy the land forever.
Third thing. The Israelis are real bastards. Shits. Fatally.
We see Emad's family, a new son who grows to five years old during the span of the film. We get to see friends and villagers who will get hurt and worse in the fighting. Incidentally every Palestinian action, weekly demos, are non-violent. Well, rocks when it matters.
And so on.
It is a real eye opener.
Collected into a very effective documentary, Emad Burnat continues the fight through his short films.
My Dad took 8mm movies of my early life. These kids will have a lot more interesting story when they grow up. There is no doubt they will be militants too.
I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films, Israel, Palestine
