Producer Marielle Olentine expected to attend
Yousef Srouji’s poignant documentary thrusts us into the experience of a middle-class Palestinian Christian family living under barrages of bombs during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). This close-up portrait is based on footage shot by Srouji’s mother Suha in their West Bank home in Beit Jala. The film opens with Santa Claus visiting the Srouji home, filled with numerous cousins, a decorated tree, and a food laden table. Delicate, quotidian scenes of Yousef’s older sister Dima playing piano and doing her homework are interspersed with terrifying moments when the family of four huddles under a staircase listening to bombs drop. Yousef’s mother Suha is funny, brave and perhaps in denial about how close the bombs are. The Sroujis are not a deeply religious family, yet Suha finds herself negotiating with God, promising that if her family survives, she will leave the country. At a time when many are bargaining with God, Srouji’s film begs us to imagine protecting our children under the siege of war. —Nancy Fishman
Yousef Srouji is a first time documentary filmmaker and longtime storyteller. His work centers around understanding the dynamics of occupation in Palestine, and community resilience in conflict zones. He holds a Master of Development Practice from UC Berkeley and hopes to use his skills to aid and empower marginalized communities in the Middle East. Yousef spent the first part of his childhood in Palestine, then relocated to Qatar with his family in the midst of the Second Intifada. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he earned a BA in Economics. He has been a fellow with the SFFilm Catapult Documentary Fellowship, received production and post-production grants from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), and has been a fellow with the Gotham Documentary Feature Lab (formerly IFP Documentary Lab.)