MUR

For most of us two particular walls stick in our minds: The Great Wall of China and the Berlin wall. Both were built for protection of the people on one side of the wall against their enemies, both were works involving colossal upheaval and building work.  Both eventually failed. In Wall we see the latest attempt made to build a wall, this time between Israelis and Palestinians. The wall, started in 2002 and deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, separates off one half of the occupied West Bank from the other. Villages are cut off, fields are divided in two, olive trees pulled out and roads abruptly ended. Two cultures are severed, but will the concrete monstrosity make any difference?

We hear from Israelis and Palestinians affected by the wall. The head of the Israeli Ministry of Defence defends it, the Israeli company that makes the concrete is made rich by it, Palestinian workers are forced to build it out of economic necessity, yet are also aware they are being cut off and face being accused of treason. A deeply moving and complex picture of the tensions of the Middle East emerges full of the director's despair for "the burial of this land". As one character remarks the 'fence', costing 2 million a kilometre, is futile:" Without peace it's worthless - it's a joke."

Awards: Spirit of Freedom Award, Jeruslam 2004; Grand Price, Marseille 2004; Grand Price, Pezzaro 2004

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