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Budrus

Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat yet remain virtually unknown to the world. The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor Control Room, co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, director of Encounter Point).

While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. Ayed succeeded in doing what many people believe to be impossible: he united local Palestinian political factions, including Fatah and Hamas; he brought women to the heart of the struggle by encouraging his daughter Iltezam's leadership; and he welcomed hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory for the first time and join this nonviolent effort.

Budrus includes diverse voices from the Palestinian leaders of the movement and their Israeli allies to an Israeli military spokesman, Doron Spielman, and Yasmine Levy, the Israeli border police officer stationed in the village at that time. While many documentaries about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict either romanticize the notion of peace, or dwell entirely on the suffering of victims to the conflict, this film focuses on the success of a Palestinian-led nonviolent movement.

In a keynote address immediately following the debut of Budrus at a Gala screening at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2009, Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein of Jordan praised the film, stating that Budrus: "Gives an enormous amount of hope... It's a story which will have an impact and can help bring change."

Encounter Point

A clash of civilizations: suicide bombers and kidnappers on one side spewing hateful, nihilistic rhetoric, and one of the world's most powerful armies on the other, reining down its massive force to subdue the local population and maintain its occupation. These are the archetypes that characterize coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Caught in the crossfire are thousands of Palestinian and Israeli civilians who reject violence and who seek to build a secure, peaceful future for their children.

Reverberations from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are felt worldwide. It is perhaps the most divisive, polarizing and documented political issue of our time. Encounter Point moves beyond sensational, dogmatic and canned images to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a convicted Palestinian fighter, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian ex-prisoner who sacrifice their safety, public standing, communities and homes in order to press for a grassroots movement for nonviolence and peace. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to stem hatred among their peoples and confront fear within themselves. Encounter Point explores what drives these and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for peace. Without dogma or righteousness, it implicitly asks why, with the world's cameras focused on this conflict, we have never heard about these courageous and vital efforts?

The film's protagonists, true civic leaders, endure suicide bombings and checkpoints to meet with militants on both sides, the wounded and apathetic masses. Audiences are left with a sense that the gulf between Israelis and Palestinians is at once bridgeable and tremendously wide.