A portrait of two Palestinian women whose individual struggles both define and transcend the politics that have torn apart their homes and their lives. Farah Hatoum, a widow living with her children and grandchildren, and Sahar Khalifeh, a novelist from the West Bank.
Direction
Khleifi frames politics through domestic spaces, not slogans.
Production
1981 West Bank filming required smuggling equipment, obviously.
Writing
Khalifeh's narration: literature and life bleeding into each other.
Director
Michel Khleifi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Khleifi smuggled 16mm film stock in flour sacks; Israeli authorities suspected the crew was making pornography, not politics.
Sahar Khalifeh's novel 'Wild Thorns' (1976) became a foundational text of Palestinian literature; this film captures her before international recognition.
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