MAHSSOMIM

Yoav Shamirs Checkpoint is an extraordinary achievement between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians trying to make their way through the Occupied Territories and also a transcendent, metaphoric examination of power and abjection. «Nobody knows about us here, nobody in the world» one man laments as he waits in a long line to make his plea to the soldiers. He is one of many men, women, and children we see waiting in the sun, rain, and snow to submit themselves to the soldiers often humiliating questioning, as often as not to be ultimately refused. Whether the soldiers are gentle or cruel and the film suggests there are more of the latter does not change the fundamental dehumanizing nature of the encounters. The Israeli, with their guns and tanks, are the enforcers, the Palestinians, the supplicants, a relationship that the film forcefully shows, can only breed intense frustration, resentment, and violence. (Elizabeth Helfgott)