Event Reports
The film tells the story about a father, Ismael, from the Jenin refugee camp whose 12 year old son was accidentally killed by an Israeli soldier, because he was holding a toy gun. In spite of all difficulties and troubles due to the Israeli occupation, he decides to donate his son’s organs to Israeli children to save their lives. After the transplantation, he is meeting all the children and their families, which include Israeli druses, Bedouins as well as one orthodox Jewish family. After the death of his son, Ismael started to run a center for children in Jenin to give them hope and offer them a vision for their future.
The screening of “The Heart of Jenin” was followed by a very well-attended discussion, lead by Abed Al-Mu’te Al-Jubeh, director of the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and teacher at Bir Zeit University, and Aleksei Bakri, cameraman of the film. The discussion focused on the balance of showing suicide bombings during the Second Intifada as well as the violence on the part of the Israeli occupation and how much this affects daily life especially in Jenin. The general feedback on the film was very positive.
During the festival also a workshop moderated by Abed Al-Mu’te Al-Jubeh was held on the basis of the films “Ezra”, “Hollow City”, “Barakat”, “Khalass”, “Tomorrow we are Going to the Movies” and “The heart of Jenin”, which were sponsored by KAS. The 15 attendants of the workshop discussed several methods of film-making as well as the influence of the audience’s cultural background and genre of the films to their perception.