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Criticism through lens of health problems. Woman in Gaza (archives)
Photo: Reuters

1st 3D Palestinian animated film premiers in Tel Aviv

Set in Gaza, 'Fatenah' documents Palestinian woman's fight against breast cancer

In a crowded room at their Tel Aviv headquarters, pro-Palestinian organization Gaza Here and Now recently hosted a panel discussion on the current state of the Palestinian Authority, followed by a premiere of the first 3D Palestinian animated film.

 

The event ironically held on the United States' Independence Day, July 4, featured speakers such as journalist Amira Haas, Ron Yaron of Doctors for Human Rights, Avir Bachar from Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and Yishai Menuchin and Majid Badar of the Public Committee against Torture in Israel.

 

The panel focused the discussion on human rights' violations, including the contested negligible treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and lacking medical facilities and care in the Palestinian Authority.

 

The key concern of the night revolved around the border crossing. The panelists reiterated the point that in the past the border restrictions were more open. Palestinians had access to east Jerusalem and could travel from the West Bank to Gaza.

 

One of the panelists, who once lived in Gaza, noted the dream of the Palestinians now to return to the 1980s when there was ease of passage and the possibility to work. After a solid hour and a half of laying the foundational roots of the problems facing the region, the activists finally showed the film to the restless audience.

 

"Fatenah," a short animated film set in the al-Shate refugee camp, concentrates criticism through the lens of health problems in the region and the lack of proper medical care facilities.

 

Faced with the travails of crossing into Israel for surgeries and medical treatment of a tumor, the film's protagonist - a 28-year-old woman named Fatenah - seeks guidance from a human rights organization in Israel.

 

Gaining passage through the Erez crossing after three months of waiting, Israeli doctors inform Fatenah that her tumor has spread and she must undergo a mastectomy. Her burdens continue as the tumor spreads further eventually becoming inoperable. This leads to Fatenah's literal disappearance into a white abyss.

 

The film offers the familiar activist narrative of suffering, victimhood and the ever popular demonization of Israeli soldiers. Depicting border guards as apathetic and cruel and government officials as merciless, decisive and unyielding in their actions. No middle ground can be found in this film.

 

Fatenah's sister, an aspiring journalist, at one point complains to her father and sister that she does not want to enter her proposed career field until they have a country and rule of law.

 

Panning to her surroundings, viewers then see a Che Guevara poster prominently hanging on the wall above a desk. Appealing to the popularity of Che as a countercultural statement in today's pop culture, or haphazardly subscribing to the mercenary acts and vigilantism that so branded the revolutionary leader's notoriety.

 

The image may also be meant to mock the sister's foolish statements demonstrative of her classic "activist" ideals. The film is enveloped in these subliminal messages seemingly intended to incite the audience in a call to action or coup d'etat - offering the mildest of critiques if at all.

 

Still, "Fatenah" is certainly a strong stride for filmmaking in the region. The film's director, Ahmad Habash worked on a small budget supplied by the World Health Organization of reportedly $60,000.

 

The limitations of directing from the West Bank came with certain constraints, yet, "Fatenah" proves impressive from an artistic standpoint. Habash has said that he wished he could have gone to Gaza and Israel because it would have allowed for better character sketches. Instead, he relied on photographs and pictures online of the regions documented in the film.

 

Misses the mark

Though this film carries the message that breast cancer is a prominent problem in the Palestinian Authority it is blighted by the political issues revolving around the Arab-Israeli conflict. Victimhood takes on a dual role as both a woman suffering from a disease and one of sheer hopelessness given the harsh realities of life in Gaza. The film tears at the heartstrings of the susceptible and at the end leaves an audience asking, "Why is this happening?"

 

"Fatenah" missed the mark. It is effortless to point a finger and accept the conditions as they are. What the film's director should be asking is not who is at fault or who is the culprit, but what can I do to change this? He evidently believed that making a film would further expose these already known issues to the world and garner support from the West to aid the situation.

 

Film is a powerful medium that is too often used for propaganda, which unfortunately occurred with "Fatenah." Grant it with more subtlety than some other films made over the years - but without any self-criticism and solely relying on one impervious perspective there is no dimension to the film; which adds nothing to the characters or storyline.

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.03.10, 07:29
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