The concrete curtain
Following on from his 2004 film The Wall, Brunners latest documentary focuses on the impact of Israel’s expropriations for and construction of the West Bank wall as it encircles and carves apart integral parts of Palestinian East Jerusalem. Based on extended and intimate interviews with residents of Bethlehem and i>Abu Dis, the film shows how Palestinian daily life is affected by Israel’s enforcement of new and unnatural geographic and jurisdictional realities imposed upon the historical capital and its residents.Social Interest
What does it mean to be a refugee in your own backyard? To be separated from your family who live 300 feet away? ‘The Concrete Curtain’ showcases several people whose lives are intimately affected by the construction of Israel’s separation border. Using footage of a woman’s home that is literally in between the West Bank and Jerusalem, the film complicates the notion of borders and, in turn, illustrates further complexities of this historical conflict. Personalizing the political, ‘The Concrete Curtain’ explores the ways in which daily lives are ruptured, fragmented, and overturned in the blink of an eye.Historic Interest
Israel’s border with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt are all fenced. Israel also maintains two separation barriers between Israeli and Palestinian population centers with the stated intention of preventing infiltration by suicide bombers. During the 1950s and 1960s a fortified separation barrier also divided much of Jerusalem to separate Jordanian and Israeli-controlled sectors of the city. In March 2004, Israel and Jordan commenced a joint project to build a desert science centre on their shared border. They have taken down a stretch of the border fence between the Red and the Dead seas for the campus.Historic Interest
For Palestinians it is the “Apartheid Wall,” Israel calls it a terror prevention barrier. As the ‘separation fence’ is being built mainly on Palestinian land, it separates chiefly Palestinian villages from their sources of life. ‘The concrete curtain’ shows Palestinians who decry its adverse effects on their livelihood.About the Producer
Benny Brunner is an Israeli-Dutch filmmaker based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish and Israeli modern history, and inspiring individuals are the subject matters of his films. Brunner has written, directed, and produced documentary films internationally since mid-1980s. He does not believe in “objectivity” in documentary filmmaking, especially in times of conflict, when people are killed in the name of ideology. His political stand in the century old struggle between Arabs and Jews in Palestine-Israel is clearly reflected in his films.Buy the DVD
Either send us an e-mail (helpdesk@docsonline.tv) or contact Benny Brunner (Tel. + 31 20 6277859 beherenow@xs4all.nl).
What does it mean to be a refugee in your own backyard? To be separated from your family who live 300 feet away? ‘The Concrete Curtain’ showcases several people whose lives are intimately affected by the construction of Israel’s separation border. Using footage of a woman’s home that is literally in between the West Bank and Jerusalem, the film complicates the notion of borders and, in turn, illustrates further complexities of this historical conflict. Personalizing the political, ‘The Concrete Curtain’ explores the ways in which daily lives are ruptured, fragmented, and overturned in the blink of an eye.Historic Interest
Israel’s border with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt are all fenced. Israel also maintains two separation barriers between Israeli and Palestinian population centers with the stated intention of preventing infiltration by suicide bombers. During the 1950s and 1960s a fortified separation barrier also divided much of Jerusalem to separate Jordanian and Israeli-controlled sectors of the city. In March 2004, Israel and Jordan commenced a joint project to build a desert science centre on their shared border. They have taken down a stretch of the border fence between the Red and the Dead seas for the campus.Historic Interest
For Palestinians it is the “Apartheid Wall,” Israel calls it a terror prevention barrier. As the ‘separation fence’ is being built mainly on Palestinian land, it separates chiefly Palestinian villages from their sources of life. ‘The concrete curtain’ shows Palestinians who decry its adverse effects on their livelihood.About the Producer
Benny Brunner is an Israeli-Dutch filmmaker based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish and Israeli modern history, and inspiring individuals are the subject matters of his films. Brunner has written, directed, and produced documentary films internationally since mid-1980s. He does not believe in “objectivity” in documentary filmmaking, especially in times of conflict, when people are killed in the name of ideology. His political stand in the century old struggle between Arabs and Jews in Palestine-Israel is clearly reflected in his films.Buy the DVD
Either send us an e-mail (helpdesk@docsonline.tv) or contact Benny Brunner (Tel. + 31 20 6277859 beherenow@xs4all.nl).
Scenes
- Israel, border between Jerusalem and West bank
- Israel has drawn a new barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank. In this clip, a woman shows that the border has been located in a way that it divides her house in two. Ironically, the woman doesn’t have a permit to be in Jerusalem.
- ID cards and the Jerusalem-West Bank border
- There are different ID cards for the people living in the area of Jerusalem. The woman in this clip has a blue card, which means she’s a Jerusalem citizen. Her husband on the other hand as an orange card. He’s concidered a resident of Abu Dis, on the West Bank. The barrier on the border separates the two areas.
- The construction of the wall between Jerusalem and the West Bank
- A woman living near Jerusalem talks about the construction of the barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank, which is very close to her house and work. She gets into an argument with people living in a new house near the wall, built under the protection of the Israeli army.
- Palestinian anthem by children of West Bank
- Palestinian children living on the West Bank sing the Palestinian anthem at their school.
- Checkpoint jam around Jerusalem and West Bank
- An Palestinian surgeon shows his daily routine of parking his own car and getting a taxi to bring him to the barrier checkpoint to be able to go to his work. The checkpoints around Jerusalem and the West Bank are very crowded and take up a lot of time.
- Palestinian man about his landloss on West Bank to Israel
- A Palestinian man talks about his landloss due to the Israeli government and the construction of the barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank. He also mentions his times while being a political activist in the 1980’s. At the moment, the man isn’t allowed to live with his family in his own house.
- Hotel and family on the border of Jerusalem and West Bank
- A woman talks about a hotel that is owned by family of her husband. The hotel was first located next to the barrier, on the Palestinian side borderline in 1967. Now, the barrier has been replaced and the hotel is on Israeli ground according to the new border, while the residents still have West Bank ID cards. The Israeli government is going to confiscate the hotel.
- Woman and husband separated by wall Jerusalem and West bank
- A woman tells her compelling story about herself and her husband. They have a different ID card; she has a Jerusalem card and her husband a West Bank card. Therefore they are not allowed to live together in either Jerusalem or the West Bank. The two areas have been separated by the barrier.
- Security and the wall between Jerusalem and West Bank
- On the road next to the barrier between Jerusalem and West Bank, we witness Israeli security reacting to a kid throwing stones at them. They immediately call soldiers for reinforcements. A Palestinian woman explains why she thinks the wall has nothing to do with security but with land gain.