Budrus
Director: Julia Bacha
Budrus Has A Hammer follows a Palestinian leader who unites Fatah, Hamas and Israelis in an unarmed movement to save his village from destruction. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter jumps into the fray.
Ayed Morrar, an unlikely Palestinian community organizer, unites all Palestinian political factions and Israelis. Together, they wage a lengthy lunch-counter-sit-in-style unarmed struggle to save his village from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Victory seems improbable until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. They not only save the village, but push the Barrier back behind the internationally-recognized armistice line that separates the West Bank from Israel. In the process, Ayed and Iltezam unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary featuring exclusive archival footage of this movement from its infancy, Budrus Has A Hammer will inspire, charm and challenge audiences worldwide.
While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. Ayed succeeded in doing what many believe to be impossible: uniting all Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas; drawing women into the heart of the struggle through the leadership of his daughter, Iltezam; and encouraging hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory for the first time and join a nonviolent movement.
Budrus Has A Hammer includes diverse voices from the leaders of the village to the Israeli border police officers stationed in Budrus at that time. While many documentaries about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict either romanticize the notion of peace, or dwell entirely on the suffering of victims of the conflict, this film focuses on the success of a Palestinian-led nonviolent movement. The protagonists not only succeeded in moving the Separation Barrier completely off Palestinian lands, they also built lasting relationships between Fatah, Hamas and Israeli activists that still thrive today, serving as a model for other communities. The story of Budrus represents what could happen in the region. With humor and frankness, this cinema verite film captures the setbacks and triumphs of an inspiring movement.