2004 Program Guide - DOXA Documentary Film Festival

oute 181: fragments of a journey in palestine-israel Friday May 28 2:00 pm / pc
Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel
France, 2003, colour, video, 270 mins,
Directors: Eyal Sivan & Michel Khleifi
In the summer of 2002, a pair of filmmakers embarked
on a two-month journey along a map trajectory that
would trace the borders outlined in Resolution 181,
the United Nations decree that infamously partitioned
Palestine into two states on November 29th, 1947. They
were driven to produce a cinematic act of faith: a film
co-directed by a Palestinian and an Israeli. The result is
an unusual vision of the inhabitants of Palestine-Israel,
and the common vision of two men who choose to reject
the tribal allegiances imposed upon them.
This four and a half hour film takes us on a mesmerizing
journey across a tiny territory with vast ramifications.
Along the way we meet women and men, Israeli
and Palestinian, young and old, civilians and soldiers,
tourists and locals, all going about their everyday lives.
What makes Sivan and Khleifi’s vision unique is their
decision to rely on the most arbitrary of encounters.
No appointments were made, no official personalities
were contacted. Instead, anonymous Palestinians and
26
Israelis speak of their lives, their experiences, and their
personal memories and understandings of what is happening
around them today. The film looks and feels like
a road trip, with all of the highs and lows that usually
accompany excursions into unknown territories. Route
181 is a unique work, both in form and content, and to
accompany its directors with open mind and heart is,
indeed, a cinematic act of faith.