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Journalism of Courage
A young Arab gasps for breath as he tears down the street,his feet pounding rhythmically on the asphalt. Omar,who comes from the downtrodden Jaffa neighbourhood of Ajami,has just witnessed a killing and he is running for his life. Its early morning,and the streets around Tel Avivs Court of Justice are deserted. Its an apt metaphor; there is no justice here,only a panicked teenager fleeing his own destiny. In his head,Omar hears the soothing voice of his younger brother,telling him to close his eyes and relax. His breath catches as he turns the corner and trips,falling hard on the pavement. On the count of three youll open your eyes, his brothers voice promises,and find yourself in another place. But in the Middle East,there is no escape from the realities of hatred,violence,and oppression. Omar,who has been involved in a drug deal gone wrong,arrives at the getaway van,only to find its locked and hes trapped. One 8230; two 8230; three. Open your eyes! his brothers voice says. On this sombre note,Ajami,a hard-hitting new Israeli movie,draws to an end.
Lebanon,another new Israeli film,evokes a trap of a different nature. Its June 1982,the morning of the Israeli invasion into Lebanon. A fresh-faced Israeli soldier lowers himself into a tank,shutting the hatch on the outside world for the next 24 hoursand the duration of the 90-minute movie. There is no escape. The soldier,and the audience,are plunged into a claustrophobic world of black grease,metal,and cold fear.
Ajami and Lebanon are the latest Israeli movies to reap artistic praiseand political criticismat home and abroad. Ajami received accolades at the Cannes Directors Fortnight and has already been named Israels nominee for the Academy Awards next February; Lebanon received the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival last month. Though both films show Israel in a less-than-glowing light,protesters at the recent Toronto Film Festival attacked these and other Israeli films for pandering to the Israeli government by trying to improve the countrys image and diverting attention from the Gaza invasion. Scandar Copti,one of Ajamis directors,supported demonstrators who threatened his own film.
Ajami and Lebanon,both funded partially by foreign sources,take up the mantle of other recent films that tap into the Arab-Israeli conflict. The mere fact that these films exist is important; it raises questions, says Klein. Paradise Now,a Palestinian-Israeli film released in 2005 to international acclaim,caused an uproar in Israel for its provocative,sympathetic portrayal of suicide bombers. It paved the way for The Bands Visit,a wry 2007 examination of the delicate relationship between Egyptians and Israelis thrust together in a fictitious desert town. Distrust of each other gives way to an awkward rapport thats both funny and unremittingly sad.
Joseph Cedars Beaufort was the first to grapple with the question of Israels military presence in Lebanon,receiving the best-director award at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. One year later,the animated,autobiographical Waltz With Bashir won a Golden Globe for its sombre take on Israels 1982 invasion of Lebanon. First-time director Samuel Maoz takes this theme a step further in Lebanon,constructing a view of war that is unapologetically one-sided,focused mainly on the suffering of the Israeli soldiers. There are no heroes here,just four inexperienced Israeli soldiers fighting their own personal battles for survival.
Ajami is unusual in that it was codirected by Scandar Copti,an Arab,and Yaron Shani,a Jew. A first movie for both,it takes a long,hard look at the complex interactions between Arabs and Jews living in Ajami. Ajami opened in Israel September 17 and has done well at the box office. Still,chances are slim that either Ajami or Lebanon will be screened in the West Bank,though Copti insists there are plans to show his film.
