Israel, 2001, 75 min.
Language: Arabic & Hebrew with English subtitles
Najwa, Nawal and Siham, three Palestinian widows, live with their 11 children in a house on Shuhada Street in Hebron. Their house lies on the border; the façade is under Israeli occupation, the Palestinian authority controls the back. At the entrance to the house a military post, on the roof the Israeli army has placed a watch point over Palestinian Hebron. Three women, trapped in the middle, constantly surrounded by Israeli soldiers, carry on their difficult lives in a perverse situation: the occupation becomes a routine, the absurd becomes a given. This is the story of an occupation that extends to the staircase and the roof of the house, where it encounters poverty, loneliness, pain, but also the small joys of everyday life. This is an internal prison, the external one is the ongoing occupation.
Directed by: Anat Even & Ada Ushpiz
Script: Ada Ushpiz & Anat Even
Photography: Danor Glazer & Ayelet Ofarim
Editing: Oron Adar & Naomi Press
Music: DJ E
Executive producer: Dan Setton
Producer: Anat Even
Produced with the support of:
The Soros Documentary Fund - OSI
Noga Communications - Channel 8
Makor” Fund for Israeli Films
Prizes:
• The Golden Dove – Leipzig International Film Festival, Germany, 2001
• Honorable Mention – The Jerusalem International Film Festival (Wolgin Award Competition), 2001
• The Audience Award – Vesoul Asian International Film Festival, France, 2002
• Special Mention – Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival, Portugal, 2002
International Film Festivals:
• Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2002
• Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel, 2001
• Leipzig Film Festival, Germany, 2001
• IDFA (Reflecting Images), The Netherlands, 2001
• Creteil International Women Film Festival, 2002
• Munich International Documentary Film Festival, Germany, 2002
• Human Rights Watch International Film Fesitval, USA, 2002
• Lubljana International Documentary Film Festival, Slovenia, 2002
• Barcelona International Women Film Festival, Spain, 2002
• Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival, Portugal, 2002
• Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Symposium, Rome, 2002
• Montecatini International Film Festival, Italy, 2002
• Malmo International Film Festival, Sweden, 2002
• Medfilm Festival, Rome, Italy, 2002; Medfest Salerno, Italy, 2002
• Tempo Documentary Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden, 2003
• Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival, France, 2002
• Festival Tout Prix, Belgium, 2002
• Feminale Women Film Festival, Colone, Germany, 2002
• Cagliari International Israeli-Palestinian Film Festival, Italy, 2002
• Documentary Seminar, Berlin, Germany, 2002
• Documentaria, The Canarian Islands International Documentary Film Festival, Spain, 2003
• Zaragoza International Women Film Festival, Spain, 2003
• Isratim – Israeli Showcase, Paris, 2002
• Adelaide Film Festival, Australia, 2003
• Vesoul International Asian Film Festival, France, 2003
• Durmont Women Film Festival, Germany, 2003
• Israeli-Palestinian Festival, Pairs, 2003
• San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA, 2003
• Documental, Pamplona International Film Festival, Spain, 2003
• 5th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, 2003
• Johannesburg International Documentary Film Festival, South Africa, 2003
• One World International Documentary Film Festival, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Human Rights Nights Festival – Rome, Italy and Sana’a, Yamen, 2003
• Palestinian Film Festival, Moscow, Russia, 2003
• “Women & Gender” Symposium, The Tel Aviv Cinematheque, 2003