5 Broken Cameras
Israel & Palestine • 1h 30m
Directed by Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat • Documentary • 2011 • 90 minutes
An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.
Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later turned into a galvanizing cinematic experience by co-directors Guy Davidi and Burnat.
Structured around the violent destruction of a succession of Burnat's video cameras, the filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. "I feel like the camera protects me," he says, "but it's an illusion."
—ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE - BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Up Next in Israel & Palestine
-
Tinghir Jerusalem
Directed by Kamal Hachkar • Documentary • 2011 • 86 minutes
In TINGHIR-JERUSALEM, filmmaker and historian Kamal Hachkar goes in search of a community that has vanished - and confronts fundamental questions of his own identity in the process. A Berber Muslim born in Tinghir, Morocco and raised in...
-
Yiddish
Directed by Nurith Aviv • Documentary • 2020 • 61 minutes
In Nurith Aviv’s unexpected, original documentary, seven young interviewees share their love for Yiddish avant-garde poetry written between the World Wars. An expressive hybrid “jargon” with roots in Hebrew, German and Slavic languages, Y...
-
The Idol
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad • Drama • With Qais Attaallah, Heba Attaallah, Ahmad Qassim • 2016 • 95 minutes
Gaza. Synonymous to so many with conflict, destruction and despair but to Mohammed Assaf, and his sister Nour, Gaza is their home and their playground. It’s where they, along with their be...
