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BaMidbar - Diptych Teudi: Halomo shel Omar

In The Desert - A Documentary Diptych: Omar’s Dream
Avner Faingulernt
Israel, Kanada 2018
115 min
V'18

Um wie seine Vorfahren am Berg Hebron Schafe zu züchten, errichtet auch Omar, gleich den jüdischen Siedlern am Nachbarberg, inmitten einer militarisierten Zone illegal ein Haus. Vor allem aber riskiert er mit diesem Entschluss den Zusammenhalt seiner Familie, die lieber im bequemen Stadthaus in Yatta bleiben will. Der Konflikt zwischen den Ehefrauen und den Söhnen spitzt sich zu, nur die Schafe bleiben friedlich. Ungewöhnlich offen blickt der Film auf die häuslichen Schwierigkeiten eines polygamen Patriarchen im Westjordanland. Draußen fällt Schnee. (Stephan Settele)

 

This is the story of Omar who returns to his place of birth after years away. He had a decent life in a small town nearby, but now felt that something had to change. And so, he chose to live in a structure more tent than house trying to eke out an existence in a part of the land the Israeli army considers a combat zone. In contrast to his opponent, Avidan, Omar is accompanied by his two wives and their children which adds various problems on top of the obvious ones that come with building a new life. Lending his story a very different flavor with an edge: While IN THE DESERT: A DOCUMENTARY DIPTYCH – AVIDAN’S DREAM is a rather virile affair – men at work –, IN THE DESERT: A DOCUMENTARY DIPTYCH – OMAR’S DREAM feels off and on like a domestic drama.
Avner Faingulernt (who in 2005 together with Macabit Abramson had already told a story about the tense relationship between Palestinians and Israeli Jewish settlers as experienced by people with an ancient occupation in MEN ON THE EDGE – FISHERMEN’S DIARY) keeps his opinions to himself. He seems the heroism and the suffering, the absurdity and the glory in both tales. And he observes the wind of the Hebron hills that will blow long after the fate of this land has been decided. (Olaf Möller)

Credits
  • Omar and his family
  • Avner Faingulernt
  • Hagar saad Shalom
  • Avner Faingulernt
  • Myriam Magassouba
  • Lev Goltser (additional Editor)
  • Peter Venne
Skene Border Films, Entre Deux Mondes Productions, Deux Beaux Garcons Films

Ruth Films

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