For his compelling 2012 debut, Khaled Jarrar followed Palestinians for over four years on their nerve-racking search for openings in the wall at the heavily militarized Qalandia checkpoint in the West Bank.
Running, jumping and crawling through dark tunnels are part of a daily ordeal for Palestinians of all backgrounds seeking routes under and over the wall to East Jerusalem. A young woman visits the sick, construction workers scale the border wall to work in Israel, families hand over swaddled babies as they wade through dirty water in illegal tunnels, and boys pass fresh bread through holes in the fence.
Most people undertake their journey in the dead of night, lit only by the sinister orange glow of street lamps on the highway or pursued by the bright green lasers of the Israeli army. With his handheld camera, Jarrar hides on the side of the road or behind the barbed wire. Unsentimentally, he shows both the humiliation and the resistance against the absurdity, the monotony of waiting and the repression that are part of everyday life.
Stills
