last week

last week i went to see film called "this way up" (the image above) as part of the "Human Rights Watch International Film Festival". It is a film by Georgi Lazarevski and is set in a senior citizens home in Jerusalem. the residents are Palestinians and as you see and hear events of their daily lives you also see the separation wall being built around them and their reactions to it. it is such a gentle film but with so many strong and interesting characters. it was strange at first as it was shot in black and white and for me the colour of the light in that part of the world is so distinctive it made me look at it in a new way. in typical french documentary style it also showed off the fact that each shot was really well composed and obviously carefully thought about, many would have made powerful still images on their own. the only  slightly difficult part of watching the film were the intermittent subtitles, and i am not completely sure that there wasn't a technical problem with them. it certainly tested my linguistic skills... but what was great about it was that it didn't actually matter that i couldn't understand all that people were saying it was still listenable and you could get the gist. it was such a strong way of showing another effect of the separation wall, how it was impacting on those that live on the Israeli side and the reactions of those who have already lived through and seen so much of what has gone before. (it's also going to be on in new york and amsterdam later in the year|)

it also gave me a new avenue to follow in my somewhat stuttering portrait project (which i have since followed up, only to be told the warden is on holiday until next week!)