With optimism in short supply in documentaries about Israeli-Palestinian relations, this stirring offering from filmmaker Julia Bacha is noteworthy in its recounting of events in 2003–04 in the Palestinian village of Budrus, a mountain hamlet on the Israeli border that lies on the path of Israel's planned security fence. When bulldozers begin excavation, endangering groves of olive trees that are the town's economic (and spiritual/cultural) foundation, Arab family man and mayor Ayed Morrar calls for opposition via nonviolent resistance against soldiers and construction crews. His 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, joins the effort, leading squads of women protesters who seem to befuddle Israeli troops unaccustomed to assertive Muslim females. Soon international peace activists and—most startling to Budrus residents—reconciliation-seeking Israelis join in solidarity with representatives of Hamas and Fatah to thwart the planned barrier. Stitching together footage taken by eyewitnesses with commentary from border guards, villagers, and others on both sides of the issue, Bacha creates an intimate look at an issue with international ramifications. Although peaceful intentions eventually give way here to stone-throwing and bullets, the human connections forged in common cause offer glimmers of hope in an otherwise bleak political landscape. Recommended. [Note: Typecast Releasing will bow Budrus on home video on May 10, priced at $24.99.] Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Budrus
(2010) 82 min. DVD: $95: high schools & public libraries; $295: colleges & universities. Ro*co Films Educational. PPR. Volume 26, Issue 2
Budrus
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