I left filming the Intifada to CNN," says Palestinian writer/director Rashid Masharawi who won the 1994 UNESCO prize at Cannes with his debut feature Curfew. "The world has enough images of rioting Palestinians hurling rocks at cameras, although what they're really aiming at is the Israeli soldiers the film crew is hiding behind. What you never see are the streets behind the mob, the homes where people live that's where you must go to understand the Palestinian psyche."
Having lived all his life in those streets - including 17 years in a Gaza refugee camp - Masharawi is well qualified to reveal the human reality behind the media image. Haifa, with its budget of US$700,000 (including US$375,000 from German TV companies WDR and ARTE and US$120,000 from the EC's Med-Media), explores what passes for ordinary life on the Gaza strip.
Set during the 1993 Washington peace talks, the story follows the eccentric Haifa, played by Mohammad Bakri, as he wanders around a Palestinian refugee camp. Named after the cosmopolitan coastal city which he has always dreamed of visiting, Haifa is trapped in the camp after refusing to accept the necessary Israeli passport that is required for travel.
"Haifa could live where he wishes, but he also wants to be a Palestinian," explains Masharawi. "It's an impossible dream, and he's a fool for clinging to it. Everyone likes listening to him talk because, although they know what he desires is unobtainable, it's their dream too. He reflects a people who are torn between wanting peace and wanting their own country. I am for peace, but I wanted to show it's ridiculous for poli-ticians to sign some papers and say 'here's peace'. Even simple people are more complicated than that."
Forced to teach himself filmmaking in Israel before returning to a country without a film industry, Masharawi is the only Palestinian feature-maker living in the occupied territories, according to co-producer Peter van Vogelpoel.
Given van Vogelpoel's explanation that "the Palestinian Ministry of Culture needs its money to build roads, and can't even afford a single cinema", reaching Cannes gives Masharawi's portrait an international platform while testifying to a unique talent.
Adam Minns
Prod Co: Argus Film Produktie, Ayloul Film Production
Prod: Peter van Vogelpoel, Rashid Masharawi, Henri Kuipers, Erik Schut
Dir/Scr: Rashid Masharawi
Ph: Edwin Verstegen
Art Des: Jamal Afghani
Prod Des: Jamal Botto
Mus: Said Morad, Kamilea Jobran
Ed: Hadara Oren
Cast: Mohammad Bakri, Fadi el-Ghoul, George Ibrahim
Running time: 90mins
Int Sales: Fortissimo Film Sales
