Encounter Point
by Ronit Avni & Julia Bacha
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DVD details
Director: Ronit Avni & Julia BachaDVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language); Hebrew (Original Language); Arabic (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Typecast Releasing
DVD Reviews of Encounter Point
DVD Review: reality trumps hope
Summary: 3 Stars
The success of Encounter Point at Tribeca and other venues is probably due to its attempt not to take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, it follows both Israeli and Palestinian members of an unfortunate "club"---parents who have lost sons and daughters in the hostilities between the warring groups. They have formed a group that is attempting reconciliation among its own members first and then reaching out to bring about understanding on a national scale.
I wanted to write this review objectively, but language insists on a point of view even when summarizing. Israelis would criticize my use of "conflict" as too mild a word to describe what they term "acts of terrorism." When a Palestinian is shot by an Israeli soldier, I am pro-Israeli if I see it as a casualty of war and pro-Palestinian if I call it murder as Palestinians in the film do). And while I do not describe the group's aims as "forgiveness," "settlement," "compromise," and "appeasement," I do adop the film's use of the term "reconciliation," thereby suggesting equivalency between the two positions, a position I do not not wish to claim.
The fact is that as any documentary, Encounter Point also takes a position and is unmistakable in its sympathies. Despite that, viewers who disagree with the attitude will still find much to interest them in the film. If the point of view was responsible for its booking, the film's actual interviews are what make it worth seeing. To their credit, if they chose deliberately, and to the credit of their artistic temperament if they chose instinctively, the filmmakers provide unforgettable moments of clarity. A Palestinian member of the group takes the filmmakers to meet his mother in Arab Jerusalem. She urges him to tell the story of his arrest as a young man. He tells of being in a room with two young men who were building bombs. When the bombs exploded prematurely, he too was arrested and imprisoned for a decade. Interrupts the mother, "He wasn't even in the room. He was outside, getting a haircut." The son gently but firmly corrects her, admitting he was in the room but insisting he was minding his own business. What a seminal moment, with mother's love and memory combining to offer a palatable version of events.
A similar moment of clarity emerges during an interview on Israeli television. The group's representative urges Israelis to question the efficacy of a policy toward Palestinians that has created 50 years of hate. The moderator responds by asking the representative to consider the possibility that the hate has no basis, that Palestinians want them dead without a specific provocation. And the representative raises his shoulder in the classic Jewish response that non-verbally says, "Who knows." Unfortunately, that shrug of doubt undercuts the optimism that animates the movement toward peace.
Ultimately, the strength of this film does not lie in its hopeful presentation of the group's aims but in its accurate rendition of the group members with all their human sadness, determination, and naiveté. Their stories, Israeli and Palestinian, are heart rending.
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