In the Land of Pomegranates
No one can see this film without being changed. It is a monument to patience, objectivity and compassion.
-- Edmund White
In the Land of Pomegranates
The pomegranate is the fruit of the land, a symbol of rejuvenation and rebirth. It is also a euphemism for a hand grenade.
In the Land of Pomegranates is a suspenseful, multi-layered documentary about a group of young people who were born into a violent and insidious ongoing war. They are young Palestinians and Israelis invited to Germany to join a retreat called 'Vacation From War' where they live under the same roof and face each other every day. In these highly charged encounters they confront the entrenched myths and grievances that each side has for the other. As they try to gain insight into the seemingly irreconcilable narratives, the paradoxes and contradictions born of legend and history along with passionately held ideals and the daily fight for survival surface.
Interwoven into this intense footage, adding context, the film also follows other embattled lives in the Occupied Territories and Israel: four children living in the shadow of the wall abutting Gaza; an
imprisoned Palestinian and the subsequent path he's taken; an Israeli survivor of a suicide bombing; and a daring Palestinian mother whose son's life is saved by an Israeli doctor. They are all caught in the duality of the pomegranate: will they embrace rebirth and each other's humanity, or will they pull the pin on the grenade?
“Hava Kohav Beller has shown us that a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way out of a violent and tragic stalemate that has lasted fifty years and more. Her beautiful camera work has found the dignity and intelligence in each interlocutor on both sides of the conflict. No one can see this film without being changed. It is a monument to patience, objectivity and compassion." -Edmund White
"This documentary about a seemingly intractable problem has the good sense to capture the full spectrum of ambivalence, conviction, wariness and good will. If an honest dialogue is the initial step toward reconciliation, what we are given here could stand as a model. Its complexity is salutary, its professional film-making skill exemplary." –Phillip Lopate
"In The Land of Pomegranates dramatically and evenhandedly portrays the seemingly intractable problems of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by casting its net wide but judiciously. This includes a soul searching and painfully honest discussion by members of the young generation on both side of the conflict. It is a must-see film for anyone looking for a sensitively nuanced yet highly informative examination of this heart breaking impasse between two peoples. In The Land of Pomegranates is not only a film, it is an experience." -Arnold Steinhardt
In the Land of Pomegranates is a suspenseful, multi-layered documentary about a group of young people who were born into a violent and insidious ongoing war. They are young Palestinians and Israelis invited to Germany to join a retreat called 'Vacation From War' where they live under the same roof and face each other every day. In these highly charged encounters they confront the entrenched myths and grievances that each side has for the other. As they try to gain insight into the seemingly irreconcilable narratives, the paradoxes and contradictions born of legend and history along with passionately held ideals and the daily fight for survival surface.
Interwoven into this intense footage, adding context, the film also follows other embattled lives in the Occupied Territories and Israel: four children living in the shadow of the wall abutting Gaza; an
imprisoned Palestinian and the subsequent path he's taken; an Israeli survivor of a suicide bombing; and a daring Palestinian mother whose son's life is saved by an Israeli doctor. They are all caught in the duality of the pomegranate: will they embrace rebirth and each other's humanity, or will they pull the pin on the grenade?
“Hava Kohav Beller has shown us that a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way out of a violent and tragic stalemate that has lasted fifty years and more. Her beautiful camera work has found the dignity and intelligence in each interlocutor on both sides of the conflict. No one can see this film without being changed. It is a monument to patience, objectivity and compassion." -Edmund White
"This documentary about a seemingly intractable problem has the good sense to capture the full spectrum of ambivalence, conviction, wariness and good will. If an honest dialogue is the initial step toward reconciliation, what we are given here could stand as a model. Its complexity is salutary, its professional film-making skill exemplary." –Phillip Lopate
"In The Land of Pomegranates dramatically and evenhandedly portrays the seemingly intractable problems of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by casting its net wide but judiciously. This includes a soul searching and painfully honest discussion by members of the young generation on both side of the conflict. It is a must-see film for anyone looking for a sensitively nuanced yet highly informative examination of this heart breaking impasse between two peoples. In The Land of Pomegranates is not only a film, it is an experience." -Arnold Steinhardt
Genre
Documentary,
Women and Film,
Politics & World Affairs,
Jewish Culture
Runtime
125
Language
Arabic,
Hebrew
Director
Hava Kohav Beller
FEATURED REVIEW
Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com
Hava Kohav Beller’s “In the Land of Pomegranates” tackles the Middle East’s most intractable, and most publicized, crisis by interweaving two strands of documentary. In one, the film observes a structured dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli young people held as part of a program called Vacation ...
Played at
Lumiere Music Hall 3.16.18 - 3.22.18
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