Dubai's Traffic gallery put on a special screening of the thought-provoking documentary
Budrus
last night and the room was packed out.
I realise that, as a film writer, I should probably have seen
Budrus
before, probably when it was shown at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2009. But I hadn't, so was somewhat pleased when the Traffic gallery gave it a special screening on Wednesday night.
Although the gallery sits among the warehouses of Dubai's less-than-dazzling Al Quoz district, the screening had an excellent turn-out, something I only noticed when I turned around at the end and noticed that the room was packed.
The documentary, by Julia Bacha, documents the struggle of a Palestinian leader the small West Bank town of Budrus as he unites Fatah, Hamas and even Israeli activists in a non-violent movement to save his village from destruction from the separation barrier. Only when his 15-year-old daughter throws herself into the protest does the tide begin to turn against the bulldozers. Eventually, the path of the wall is moved. It's a touching and eye-opening account of just how effective non-violent resistance can be, and in an excellent talk made by Bacha at a TEDx event, which was shown after the film, she calls upon the world to pay more attention to such movements.
If you haven't seen
Budrus
, it's highly recommended.
Watch the trailer below.
