Introduction
The Arab film industry can be more defined with the volume of documentaries that are produced way back to 1924 in Egypt (Mellor, 2011). Documentaries have been used by liberation groups to voice their protests against the government and the regime that had crippled the sense of democracy of the region. The government also has its own share of documentaries produced as a way of informing the public of the projects and developments that are initiated by the state. With the help of these documentaries, the people are informed and opinions are shaped. The advent of satellite networks and other television channels have grown the number of documentaries that are produced throughout the Arab region.
Documentaries play an important role in the recent success of the Arab Spring. These documentaries helped to shape the perspective and opinion of the public. Several films that are essential to the Arab Spring include: Ibrahim El Batout's Ein Shamsis a moving documentary that talked about the plight of the people the neighborhood as a commentary of the political structure of the government and the ills of the society; and The Green Waveis a commentary of the current repression and failure of the government to promote the common good of the people. These films are important elements to the Arab Spring for without a clear presentation and motivation of the people's rights, it is impossible to reshape the opinion of the people.
Another important use of film documentaries is for the Palestine-Israel conflict. Within the Arab region, Israel remains a distant relative. For Israel, history has its different take, while for Arab nations, the story also rolls on a different direction. But the reality is that both Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Arabs are affected by the conflict that had since polarized and divided the region. There have been several documentaries that talked about the conflict, and these documentaries have their own goals and objectives (sometimes, depending on how financed the documentary).
In this paper, I will be evaluating and reviewing two film documentaries that talked about the condition of Arabs in Israel and that of a Jewish community inside an Arab nation. This will be a stark contrast of two races adaptation and assimilation as they live in a land that they don't have any affinity or connection with. It must be noted that even in the political sense, these people don't have any connection with the new land, but these people are connected to each other. Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabstalks about the Jewish community of Iraq that relocated to Israel. On the other hand, 5 Broken Camerasoffers a view on struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank, specifically during the conquest of Israel through its walling of the region.
Film Documentaries
In filming documentaries on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not an easy job. There are several challenges that had to be faced by the filmmaker. At the top of it is keeping the realism of the film. This is a problem with the documentary; if Palestinians do the documentary, they favor their side of the story, while if Israeli filmmakers make their documentaries, their own story is also expanded. Filmmakers have their own view and opinion on important issues of the society and sometimes favor their own view when doing documentaries. As such, the fight of filmmakers is to make the documentary realistic and defined, rather than on expanding a view without presenting the other side of the story.
But for 5 Broken Camerasthe realism is based on a personal level. Because the film is not a political one, there is no need to explore the side of the Israeli. Instead, the film just recounts the daily life of those who are subjects of the documentary. Although 5 Broken Cameras can be viewed as biased, but this is the element of most personal documentaries. This is similar to the personal level of narration of Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs. The narration focuses on the the account of four Iraqi Jews than on the explanation of the state on this condition. The only unique part of this film is the expansion to include European and Western regions. As a result the film becomes a personal narrative as well as a cultural and political commentary.
Another difficulty in filming documentaries of the Palestine-Israeli conflict is the hostility to media of both camps (Schumacher-Matos, 2013). Palestinians are hesitant to be filmed and interviewed because they feel that their cause is being twisted by the other party. This is the same with the Israeli people. As a result, it is really difficult to film a documentary, especially when this deals with the political and national issues. This is sometimes the reason why it is hard for political documentaries to present two sides of the story.
But for personal documentaries such as 5 Broken Cameras, the problem is not that much. The only challenge is how to film a struggle and violent demonstration without being caught in the middle of the violence and aggressions of both parties. This is the reason why for 5 Broken Cameras, there are actually five cameras that were broken due to the demonstrations. And still Burnat's life was put into danger as he needs to document the violent struggle of the people against the Israeli soldiers.
Lastly, documentaries that are produced by both Palestinians and Israelis filmmakers as a collaborative work are subject to the struggle of two cultural identity. The anti-normalization view of the people becomes a big hindrance to the acknowledgment of both parties. For instance, the 5 Broken Cameras is subject to the fight between the Israeli and Palestinian media which both claim ownership of the documentary film.
Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs
Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabsis a film by Samir revolves around the lives of four Iraqi Jews who were forced to leave their land in Baghdad to settle as refugees in Tel Aviv. For Iraqi Jews, it is difficult for them to find home in Iraq where they don't have any religious connection. For Jewish community in Iraq, it is difficult to find a home in the middle of Muslim people. On the other hand, life becomes difficult when they transferred to Tel Aviv as refugees. Even if Iraqi Jews find affinity with their Jewish religion, the culture they had in Iraq and the political views they have make it more difficult for them to live peaceably and assimilate easily.
The ultimate goal of Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs is to explore and evaluate the stereotype culture against half-Jews. They were left in the middle of the conflict of Arabs and Israelis in the region. While their religion can be traced to that of Israeli, it is also impossible for them to leave the ethnic and political heritage they had. This is what the film is all about. Even more, the documentary also went on to expand the idea of cultural and religious stereotype to Arab Jews across the world by interviewing an Arab Jew living in New York. More than just a review of the stereotype being raised against Arab Jews across the region, the film reviewed how the stereotype extended to other regions across the globe.
Samir succeeded in bridging the problem of stereotype in Middle East to the Western world through the interview of Ella Shohat (Arab Jew in New York, as mentioned above). The documentary showed the struggle of mizrahim or Arab Jews in the different regions of the globe. They can't seem to find a place in the extreme viewpoint of Muslims and the fundamentalism of Jews. The documentary film expanded that idea of stereotype on Arab Jews because of the way Arabs are painted in the Western films or the Israeli films, and on the idea of stereotype as typed in the Arab world. The conflict of the Arab world and Israel becomes a big problem to Iraqi Jews because they can't seem to make up their mind and they are caught in the middle of the conflict.
If we look closely, the Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs is the story of Samir. Samir was born to a former Iraqi Community Party member who emigrated to Switzerland. On a personal note, the exploration of the stereotype on Arab Jews was perhaps also felt by Samir himself (Fox, 2003). This is the reason why he documented the plight of those who shared the same histories as his father. But in contrast to his father's emigration to Switzerland, the main characters of the film documentary emigrated to Israel.
The title of this film is anchored on the idea that as members of the former ICP leave Iraq after it fell in the hands of Britain, they lived in Israel as the safest refuge they can have. Arabs hunt them for they were considered a threat to the Islamic fundamentalism as mizrahims are tagged as Zionist. They were people who don't want to give up their religion to gain access to Arab countries, where they can retain their culture and identity. This is the story of racial discrimination being raised by the extremes of the Arab world, but this is also based on religious differences. As they started to live in Israel, they gained the political voice that they needed and the religious backing they wanted for long, but the same resulted to the loss of their identity as members of Iraq. In the end, they don't have a choice but to live their lives in Israel and to “forget Baghdad”.
Baghdad becomes only a symbolic representation of the origin of the people, of their past struggles, and culture they had. Arab Jews are better off in Israel where they can enjoy religious freedom and a political voice than when they were in Baghdad with the chaos of the region. This is truism of the choice that Arab Jews had to endure because of the problem of their birthplace.
5 Broken Cameras
5 Broken Cameras is not a single documentary, but it is a personal-communal documentary of five people. It is a chronicle of the struggle, protest and endurance of the people, and this struggle sometimes resulted to "violence and tiny glimmers of hope... with a hardened view of the issue to think again (Scott, 2012)." There's not a single struggle between Israel and Palestine that did not result to violence demonstrations and protests.
Judging the tone of the film, it is easy to say that it is for the advancement of the Palestinian cause. This film documentary is an indictment of Israel for its distorted policies in the West Bank without regards to the conditions and security of the people. The people near the area are always caught in the battle between the militia and the Palestinian rebel. The film revisits the lives of the people who had been affected by the policies of Israel and the complete disregard for the common good of the people. It is a review on the real condition of the people that are affected by the conflict, rather an analysis of the conflict's history and the argument of each party. In every conflict, the people become the collateral damage.
I can see why the film is pro-Palestinian because it is directed by the Palestinian director Emud Burnat. The truism speaks that the filmmaker is always attached to his work and it would impossible to separate the person views of the person on the subjects and topics and he wishes to explore or film. However, Burnat collaborated with the Israeli Guy Davidi for the completion of the documentary. It was Davidi who worked on the structure of the film, but I am surprised that he did nothing to transform the view of the film from the Palestinian view to the Israeli account. Perhaps, both agreed to push for the realistic documentation of what really happened. As mentioned earlier, 5 Broken Camerasworks on five different cameras to capture what happened in the West Bank for several years. Both Burnat and Davidi cannot changed what had been recorded in the reel of the cameras. As such, if any editing be done on the actual events, the documentary can be judged of revisionism and reductionism.
At a personal level, the documentary focuses on the narrative of the birth of Burnat's son Gibreel, who grew in the background of the struggle of the people. By narrating the life of his son, Burnat was able to show the time line of the struggle. It was a struggle that did not just last for couple of months. But it was a series of of struggle as punctuated by violence, the breaking of five cameras due to tear gas canisters, and other incidents (Goldman, 2013). The film was five years in the making and it left not a single event in the small village of Bilin. By reflecting the day to day life of the people of the village in the background of the struggle, the film showed to the world the impact of the conflict between Palestine and Israel in a more personal level than in a political and national level. In a person level, the suffering of the people becomes real, while in a political and national level, the focus is on the success of the policies and principles of the conflict.
In the end, with series of critical acclamation, 5 Broken Cameras can be considered a successful film. It successfully translated the condition of the people near the borders of the West Bank. Although, Burnat was criticized for working with Davidi, the film succeeded in bringing the point home. The Palestinian people were the victim of the struggle and the repressive nature of Israel as opposed to the claim of Israel. This is the real objective of the film that even put Davidi in bad light among his family due to the polarization of the opinions and perspectives on the conflict.
Conclusion
Film documentaries are vital to get the real condition of the people. The personal appeal and view of the documentary offers a way for understanding of the Palestine-Israel conflict in a more personal manner. This is narrowing down the conflict into a personal level so that both parties will understand the impact of their actions. The personal appeal of the conflict shows the stereotype and discrimination that both parties had to endure, as well as the struggle of the people who become collateral damages of the political conflict and interest of these two nations.
Simply, the condition of Arabs and Jews in the region is not a matter of politics, but it is a matter of principle and the way people view things. It could have been that Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs presentation of the condition of the Arab Jews is reduced and eliminated if the people allowed assimilation and adaptation as they live peaceably with them. But due to the division of the people with regards to the political story, the personal relation of the person with other is also affected.
References:
Dajani, N. (2001). Arab Media. Polity.
Fox, K. (2003). Forget Baghdad Review. TV Guide. Retrieved from http://movies.tvguide.com/forget- baghdad/review/137071
Goldman, L. (2013). '5 Broken Cameras' director: There is no room for guilt - only taking responsibility. Retrieved from http://972mag.com/director-of-5-broken-cameras-there-is- noroom-for-guilt-only-taking-responsibility/66642/
Scott, A.O. (2012). A Palestinian Whose Cameras Are Witnesses and Casualties of Conflict. The New York Times.
Schumacher-Matos, E. (2013). '5 Broken Cameras' And Blaming The Victim On The West Bank. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2013/03/04/173457628/5-broken- cameras-and-blaming-the-victim-on-the-west-bank
