[R-G] _Jenin Jenin_ (Dir. Mohamed Bakri)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

_Jenin Jenin_

Type: Documentary
Director: Mohamed Bakri
Year: 2002
Time: 54 minutes
Produced by: Iyad Samudi and Mohamed Bakri
Written by: Mohamed Bakri
Edited by: Leandro Pantanella
Language: Arabic with English subtitles

Winner: Best Film, Carthage International Film Festival

'Where is God,' an elderly man desperately wonders when surveying the 
debris in the Palestinian refugee camp Jenin.

The film, directed and co-produced by Palestinian actor and director 
Mohammed Bakri, includes testimony from Jenin residents after the 
Israeli army's Defensive Wall operation, during which the city and 
camp were the scenes of fierce fighting. The operation ended with 
Jenin flattened and scores of Palestinians dead. Palestinians as well 
as numerous human rights groups accused Israel of committing war 
crimes in the April 2002 attack on the refugee camp. "Jenin Jenin" 
shows the extent to which the prolonged oppression and terror has 
affected the state of mind of the Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin.

Bitterness and grief are the prevailing feelings among the majority 
of the population. Many have lost loved ones or are still searching 
for victims and furniture among the debris. A little girl, who does 
not seem to be much older than twelve, tells her story but knows no 
fear. The ongoing violence in her day-to-day life only nourishes her 
feelings of hatred and the urge to take revenge. She tells what she 
would do to Prime Minister Sharon if he visited the camp and she 
shouts that the Palestinians will never give up the struggle. They 
will keep on producing children, who can continue the fight against 
injustice.

The sad question forces itself on the spectator. What will become of 
a country, a people when its children are confronted with war and 
violence from a very early age?

Banned in Israel, "Jenin Jenin" is dedicated to Iyad Samudi, the 
producer of the film, who returned home to Yamun after the shooting 
of the film was completed. On June 23, as Israeli forces besieged 
Yamun, Samudi was shot and killed as he was leaving a military-closed 
area with three friends.

VHS for home use: $29.99
VHS for institutional use: $200.00

<http://www.arabfilm.com/item/242/>
-- 
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
<http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>