Film Director NZ Tour Reignites Support For Palestine
Emmy Award winning and Oscar nominated Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat received a standing ovation after the screening of his powerful movie in Christchurch.
Burnat said people were used to hearing about Palestine in the news or from the politicians but he thought it was important for people to also hear directly from Palestinians who lived there.
Organiser and Kia Ora Gaza chairman Roger Fowler said the screening was part of a nationwide tour and there had been an unprecedented turnout at every event where Burnat screened his documentary.
The documentary begins with the birth of Burnat’s fourthth son Gibreel in 2005.
Gibreel’s arrival coincided with the start of the construction of a barrier by Israel, separating Burnat’s village of Bil’in from almost 60 percent of its farmland.
As well as capturing his son’s first few steps, Burnat decided to turn his first camera towards documenting the extraordinary events unfolding in his community.
In an interview recorded in the US, Burnat said, “for me, my camera was my gun, my weapon, my protection”.
During the course of filming, Israeli bullets and tear gas grenades broke five of Burnat’s cameras. One camera still has a bullet lodged inside it.
“That camera saved my life,” Burnat told the audience.
“5 Broken Cameras” is a documentation of resistance, lost childhoods and lives cut short by violence.
The film draws the audience to Gibreel’s gaze and what he sees and absorbs as he grows up through seven years of filming- unending protests, tear gas and stun grenades, arrests of family members and villagers, house raids at night, shootings and death of a much-loved friend.
Burnat’s village of Bil’in has become internationally known for its continuing weekly Friday protests against the annexation wall and illegal Israeli settlements continuing to this day.
Protests in Bil’in are often joined by activists from Israel and around the world.
“5 Broken Cameras” was first screened in New Zealand as part of the International Film Festival in 2012, the same year it was awarded the Doco Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Emad Burnat is the only Palestinian Academy Member with voting rights on Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language Films.
“5 Broken Cameras” was edited by Israeli activist Guy Davidi.
You can watch Burnat’s documentary here:
Photo: Supplied
Palestinian farmer-turned-movie-director Emad Burnat never expected
his documentary to become an international success.
Photo: Supplied
Standing room only at the screening of “5 Broken Cameras” held at the Canterbury’s
Workers Educational Association in Christchurch.
Martin (husband) and I visited Bil’in, 3 and a half years ago, on a Friday.
Also, in solidarity, were several Scandinavians, a Canadian and a few Israelis. We all ‘experienced’ tear gas attacks, very unpleasant.
Donna is absolutely correct in saying that Bil’in is “internationally known for its continuing weekly Friday protests against the annexation wall”.
The Israeli activist Uri Avnery several years ago said, “Ich bin ein Bil’iner!”.
Shame on Maggie Barry for signing a film co-production agreement between the NZ & Israeli. It’s the Palestinian film makers who deserve and need our support.
I could not agree more. I am embarrassed at our governments’ craven attitude to israel. How we can have anything to do with productions like the dreadful “Atomic Falafel” and others that attempt to normalize and whitewash the israeli expansionist policies, war machine and occupation of Palestine is shameful.
You might wonder why I wrote “ich bin ein Bil’iner”. In 1963, during the Cold War , President Kennedy gave a morale-boosting speech in Berlin in which he said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”