Avi Mograbi, one of Israel’s most distinguished filmmakers, is renowned for his commitment to social, cultural, and political justice. A hallmark of his style is the overt presence of both the filmmaker and the filmmaking process. For this short film, Mograbi draws on unused footage shot for his earlier documentary Once I Entered a Garden.
In the light of events in the intervening decade, this material has taken on new meaning. Together with his Palestinian friend Ali Al-Azhari, Mograbi walks through what remains of Ali’s birthplace, Saffuriya, the village from which he and his family were expelled during the Nakba, in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. As they search for what remains of Ali’s ancestral homeland, melancholy and humor alternate. A heartwarming testament to friendship, Palestinian history, and personal trauma.
Stills
