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Frontiers
of Fears and Dreams is a documentary film which touches on life in
the
refugee camps of Shatilla in Lebanon and Deisha near Bethlehem through the eyes of
children growing up
within the camp walls. Focusing on 2 young girls, Mona, 13 yrs
old
from Shatilla, and
Manar, 14, from Deisha, the lives, dreams and experiences of the
girls,
their families and peers
are touchingly presented to the viewer.
Although living
within the economic and Israeli military oppressions affecting
daily camp
life, the girls find
ways to live as normal teenagers, enjoying birthdays, taking care of
daily chores, attending
schools when open, and discussing fashion, love and normal
teenage concerns. Mona
and Manar who both have been orphaned by the massacres and
sieges upon the camps,
are still able to celebrate life and keep the spirit of their
identity
and homeland alive.
The children in the camps sing tearful nationalistic songs, discuss
the
history of their
homeland, and how politics affect them as displaced persons.
Scenes are
shown of the children
working on a camp beautification program and painting the walls with
heartfelt pictures
reflecting their love of Palestine and each other.
The girls
get to know each other as pen pals, sending letters, gifts, and
e-mail. At
one point in the film,
Mona asks Manar to visit her original homeland village near
Nazareth,
as she is unable to
cross the Lebanese-Israeli border. Manar relates to her the visions
and
feelings experienced
there and also video tapes her visit. An emotionally charged
meeting
between the two girls
was filmed at the Lebanese-Israeli barbed wire border. Non
stop
talk, tears, hugs, and
kisses were exchanged through the metal chain-link divider.
The message
sent by “Frontiers of Dreams and Fears” is not one of despair but
that
of hope. Hope for
goodness, dignity, and solidarity.
Mai Masri- Producer &
Director
Mai Masri is
a Palestinian filmmaker, graduate of San Francisco State University.
She has directed and
produced several award winning films that are broadcast on more
than 100 television
stations around the world. Ms. Masri has formed MTC and Nour
Productions with
filmmaker Jean Chamoun. “Frontiers of Dreams and Fears’ has won
first
prize at Ismailia Film
Festival, a Special Jury Award at Beirut International Film
Festival,
the Earth Vision Award
in Tokyo 2001 and Best documentary Egyptian Documentary &
Film Critics Assoc.
Mai has also produced ‘Children of Shatilla’, ‘Hanan Ashrawi: A
Woman of Her Time’, ‘In
the Shadows of the City’, ‘War Generation-Beirut’, and ‘Wild
Flowers’ to name a few
of the films which have received prestigious awards. Ms. Masri is
married to Jean Chamoun,
has two daughters and is currently living in Beirut, Lebanon.
Comments on the film
-I caught the last 20
minutes of this program, in fact, I’m not even sure what channel I
had
on but was fortunate
to catch this website address and look it up. WOW! I was so blown
away by this film! I
had NO CLUE that this was life for the Palestinian people. Thank
God for public
broadcasting! I could not take my eyes fro this film, and was so
deeply
touched by the young
people and their innocence and humanity. I want to thank you for
opening my mind to
the reality of daily life for this beautiful culture and must tell
you that
this little film has
forever altered my vision into the Middle East. Thank you.
-Susan
-Some people came
away with feelings of sadness towards the children of the camps but
I was inspired by
HOPE. Hope for the futures of these new generations of Palestinian
children, who have
never seen, felt, or experienced their homeland. The children spoke
from their hearts
without direction or scripts.
Rima Husseini, Jerusalem Forum
It is good and
necessary to see some of the results of the occupation, through the
eyes of
the children, the
harsh realities of the life of a refugee in the camps. There is no
way that
they can forget their
homes, they carry homemade “keys” to their destroyed or occupied
homes. Mai Masri
draws a picture through the eyes of the children, of real life under
occupation. To quote
one of the boys, 12 yrs. Old, from the Shatilla refugee camp, (when
he leaned over the
barbed wire separating Lebanon from occupied Palestine), “Half of
me is clean inside
Palestine and the other half is dirty which is inside the refugee
camp.”
Most of us
(Palestinians) have left our souls inside Palestine, especially in
Jerusalem.
-Nawal
Sheihabi Khatib-Board of Directors at Jerusalem Forum &
wife of
H.E. Omar Khatib-Palestinian
Ambassador to Jordan
* Saira W. Soufan is
a Pakistani-American studied in Biology and free lance worker.
Married and living in
Amman-Jordan. Currently working as an assistant editor with
the Jerusalem Forum.
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