Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine

Connie Field's documentary draws a comparison between the plight of Palestinians in the contemporary Middle East and the struggle for civil rights in 20th-century America, here following a 2011 journey made by an African American gospel choir to the region in order to present a play about Martin Luther King Jr., in collaboration with the Palestinian National Theatre. Initially, Al Helm looks at rehearsals, which are mostly marked by cooperation but occasional disagreement, such as when the play's author, Stanford University Professor Clayborne Carson, objects to the director's plan to restructure the work to meet audience expectations. Later, Field's focus grows more overtly political as the production moves to the Freedom Theatre, which was founded in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin by Israeli-Palestinian actor-activist Juliano Mer-Khamis, a man whose assassination by an unknown gunman while the group was still in the region brings home to the Americans how much the Palestinians' struggle resembles King's fight in the United States. Some of the singers admit that their perspective is one-sided (although they also acknowledge that as Christians their initial inclination was pro-Israel), and the same is true of Field's film, but it also presents an unusual take on the situation in the Middle East, offering some interesting observations about the intersection between art and politics, as well as a fine tribute to the charismatic Mer-Khamis. Extras include deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)