Chronicles of a Refugee, a documentary review

chroniclesofarefugee

 Chronicles of a Refugee, a documentary review

Maan News Agency, May 6, 2009

“Do you know what the problem  is?” Nadine, a young Palestinian woman asks an off-screen interviewer.  She continues, “It’s that the Palestinian has the ability to forgive…  If you, as an Israeli, killed his mother and father and his family,  he [the Palestinian] has the ability to start all over again. But the  Israeli doesn’t have the ability to believe that the Palestinian will  forgive….”

Though many viewers might disagree,  it is certain to get people talking.

The initial buzz around the  independently-produced “Chronicles of a Refugee”—a six-part documentary  that includes Nadine’s interview as well as those of over 300 other  Palestinian refugees from almost 20 countries—was little more than  a whisper. But its collective voice is growing louder. It is circulating  through homes and hands in the north of Israel.  Tel Aviv’s Cinematheque  is planning to air it in the near future. And al-Jazeera has picked  up the documentary, as well.

It is easy to understand why  interest in “Chronicles of a Refugee” is reaching critical mass.  Composed almost entirely of compelling personal stories, the series,  which is in Arabic with English subtitles and runs over eight hours,  is at once nuanced and voluminous. However, audiences shouldn’t be  intimidated by its length—one can choose to view all six parts, or  only one or two segments—each episode can stand alone. The film, as  a whole, remains fresh and engaging throughout—thanks to a beat-laden  musical score created by Ramallah Underground and Tarik “Excentrik”  Kazaleh and, more importantly, due to an intense emphasis on the human.

Adam Shapiro, one of the three  filmmakers behind “Chronicles of a Refugee,” points out, “It’s  the first time a documentary has been made that conceives the Palestinian  nation as a people and not a specific piece of land. And it’s the  first work of its kind that has looked at the Palestinian nation in  its entirety.”

Beginning with the events of  1948, known as the Nakba (catastrophe) in Arabic, “Chronicles of a  Refugee” teases out the complexities and problems facing Palestinian  refugees until, literally, today—interviews conducted in Gaza in the  wake of Operation Cast Lead were added to the documentary. This suggests  a narrative that is shifting and dynamic. Perla Issa, one of the filmmakers,  agrees, “The narrative of Palestinians today isn’t settled yet—it’s  still being created and developed. With this project, we wanted to give  Palestinians a chance to add to the narrative—we didn’t want experts  or historians. We need to understand how people experienced the events.”  She explains that the documentary isn’t just a forum for Palestinians  to give voice to their stories, it’s also a chance for their voices  to be heard.

Though the series was created  primarily for Palestinian audiences, Shapiro hopes that Israeli and  Jewish audiences will get “a sense of the tragedy that has befallen  the Palestinian people.” He emphasizes that the filmmakers do not  want to “minimize what Jews and Israelis have been through. This [film]  isn’t intended to deny anyone else’s experience. It’s to say ‘let’s  take into account as much of the experience as we can.’”

Issa states,  “It would be amazing if Israelis could watch this. We are hoping for  them [Israelis] to hear the alternative story of 1948 and to get a better  idea of what Palestinians went through in 1948 and since then.” Issa  would like to see Israeli audiences “question their own state, their  own policies, their own government.” However, she acknowledges that  Palestinians must do the same. “Israel is the beginning,” she says,  “but everyone is guilty.”

Palestinian leadership—or  a lack thereof—is one of the many issues covered in the film. Shapiro  feels that the interviewees and, by extension the film’s, broaching  of this topic is taboo-breaking. “In Arab countries,” he explains,  “calling for an alternative to the PLO, the sole legitimate representative  of the Palestinian people, is extremely provocative.” Shapiro mentions  that the documentary tackles another taboo—that of Palestinians taking  citizenship in host countries.

But this doesn’t mean that  host countries escape the filmmakers’ scrutiny. The multitude of problems—displacement,  expulsion, and various forms of discrimination—that Palestinians have  faced around the world, including in the Arab countries, is also detailed.  In the film, Cairo-based Palestinian writer Mourid Barghouti offers  the scathing criticism, “The Palestinian, in the official Arab mentality,  is a security threat first of all… They [the Arab countries] love  Palestine, but hate the Palestinian.”

Palestinian interviewees discuss  the events that occurred at Sabra and Shatila—the subject of the widely  acclaimed “Waltz with Bashir”—as well as the devastating War of  the Camps that occurred in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War. Refugees  recount the experience of again losing their homes in a diversity of  locations including Jordan, Germany, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Kuwait,  Iraq, the West Bank, Canada, and the United States. “Palestinians  can never feel safe anywhere,” Shapiro says.

The picture the viewer is left  with is of a people in crisis. Shapiro agrees, “1948 was the lowest  point, but today should be considered as the second lowest. Today Palestinians  find that the ability to better themselves, to participate, to have  a say in what’s going on in their lives is nonexistent. In that sense,  things are even worse.” Despite this, Shapiro remains optimistic,  “I have been encouraged by meeting younger Palestinians around the  world… They’re powerful, dynamic. They will challenge standard approaches  to the problems and they aren’t caught in the same logic of those  who have preceded them.”

Issa has a similar point of  view. “The current situation is a crisis, but I don’t think there’s  no way out of it,” she says. “I don’t think the leadership is  going to get us out of anything,” she adds. Issa feels that “all  [of] the political parties and factions” are problematic. But she  does see progress and change—and tremendous potential—on an individual  level. Issa and the other filmmakers agree with the words of one of  the interviewees, the prominent Palestinian academic Nur Masalha, “It’s  not going to happen from the top down, you have to do it from the bottom  up.”

“Chronicles of a Refugee,”  is not only a reflection of this grassroots approach, it is a loudspeaker  for it—intentionally so. “The hope is that people will give it away  and will invite their family to watch it…” Issa comments, “The  big theatres and festivals are great but it’s not where discussion  happens. It happens in the home.” The documentary is intended to ignite  debate about and shed light on the issues that face the Palestinian  people. The filmmakers also hope it will raise awareness and create  unity amongst Palestinians. “The cause is one,” Issa says.

And for each of the filmmakers,  the cause is personal. Brooklyn-born Adam Shapiro, who was raised Jewish  but doesn’t identify as such, is a co-founder of the International  Solidarity Movement– an organization he is no longer affiliated with– and is married to a Palestinian. Though Perla Issa  was raised in Lebanon, three of her grandparents were from Palestine  and she has done extensive work in the area of  Palestinian rights.  Aseel Mansour—an up-and-coming Palestinian filmmaker—was born in  Iraq and was raised in Baghdad and Amman.

<em>A preview of  “Chronicles of a Refugee” is available on YouTube.  The series can be purchased, in its entirety, at the Palestine Online  Store for 60 US dollars. Each copy that is purchased enables the filmmakers  to donate a copy to five Palestinian families.</em>

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