Director: Hadara Oren / Israel 2024

Category: Current Affairs, Human Rights, Middle-East

Producer: Hadara Oren

Language: Hebrew, Arabic

Subtitles: English

Length: 69 minutes.

Bedouin shepherd communities who live in the magical spaces of the Jordan Valley have to deal with a variety of pressures and threats. The film follows the complexity of the ‘human layer’, that disturbs the peacefulness of the desert and awakens ancient struggles. All this, against the backdrop of, and perhaps in contrast to, the wonderful scenery of the desert.

In the Israeli Wild West—the West Bank—nomadic Arab communities struggle to survive under the weight of occupation. In this lawless and contested land, Palestinian shepherds are being displaced by Jewish settlers claiming pastures for their own herds. Amid the clash of stones, soil, people, and sheep, a group of defiant Israeli activists stands in solidarity with their Palestinian friends resisting injustice. In her raw and unflinching documentary, Hadara Oren offers an intimate look at a microcosm of the larger conflict, where Arab farmers, Jewish settlers, and young soldiers all find themselves entangled in a battle over identity, territory, and conscience—all seen through the eyes of those who refuse to look away – Amir Bogen, Lighthouse International Film Festival