WALL (2004) [feature]

France, Israel (MIFF2004,Homelands The Middle East in Focus)
Director: Simone Bitton
Wall (Mur) France/Israel

Wall arrives direct from its place in Director's Fortnight at Cannes this year.

'an eye-opener about the true dimensions'both physical and mental'of the barrier being built to divide Palestinian territories from Israel, documentary maker Simone Bitton's Wall is a think-for-yourself journey along both sides of the titular monument to human stubbornness. Bitton'an Arab Jew who has lived on both sides of Jerusalem and is comfortable speaking idiomatic Arabic and Hebrew'is particularly well qualified to tackle her subject.' -Variety

'Wall is a cinematic reflection on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the filmmaker clouds the issues of hatred by insisting on her double culture as Jew and Arab. In an original documentary approach, the film follows the line of separation that is eviscerating one of the most history-laden landscapes in the world, imprisoning some and enclosing others. On the building site of this aberrant wall, the daily utterances and holy chants, in Hebrew and in Arabic, withstand the discourses of war and pass through the tumult of drills and bulldozers.' -Cannes Film Festival

D Simone Bitton P Thierry Lenouvel WS Wide L Arabic w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2004/98mins

Simone Bitton was born in Morocco in 1955. Films include: Palestine: Story of a Land (1993), The Bombing (1998), Citizen Bishara (2001).

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