The painful personal stories of five Palestinian kids, ages 7-17, open a window into the world of Palestinian minors – trapped within the violence, humiliation, and daily confrontations with soldiers and settlers – while remaining children in every way. Each child finds his or her own way to cope and to construct emotional and political worlds in an impossible situation.
The film combines the children’s intimate experiences, one of them was involved in the “Knife Intifada,” with the constant soundtrack of their lives on closed circle TV and social media, and their schools’ educational programs. At this seam between an impenetrable occupation and Palestinian society, increasingly mobilized to fight against it – The children are looking for their voice. Their helplessness is heartbreaking, as wherever reality sweeps them – they are still just children, naughty, funny, dreaming.
NIF Film Club discussed this film with NIF’s VP of Public Engagement Libby Lenkinski and director Ada Ushpiz.
Ada Ushpiz is a renowned Israeli film producer and director. She has a B.A. in philosophy and M.A. in history from Tel Aviv University and a significant journalistic experience in political-social writing for the prestigious Ha’aretz newspaper. She directed a number of remarkable documentaries in recent years – Detained (2001), Bloody Engagement (2004), Desert Brides (2008) and Good Garbage (2012) – which have been awarded numerous awards in Israel and around the world.