2023-10-03 13:49:37
Ibrahim, the grandfather of the Israeli filmmaker Grandfather Mograbi, “he was Arab because of his clothing, tastes, desires, torments and dreams.” Instead, “his religion was Judaism.” The documentary filmmaker tells it to his Arabic teacher and friend for decades, Ali Al-Azhari, in the award-winning Once I entered a garden, which today opens MajorDocs, the international creative documentary film festival in Mallorca. Both protagonists show with this explanation, in addition to a wall calendar printed in the 1930s and other anecdotes, how Jews and Palestinians lived before the creation of the State of Israel. It was a plural mosaic of cultures, nations and religions that collapsed in 1948. Past and present come together in this film in which It gets worse y Al-Azhari They delve into their common history and travel to a border area with the invaluable help of little Yasmin, whose father is a Palestinian (Ali) and an Israeli mother; while the story is intertwined with the love letters of a Lebanese Jew to her lover, who has emigrated to Israel.
It was going to be titled Return to Beirut. Why did you choose the lovers’ song?
It was like a metaphor. A Beirutian friend suggested it to me when I told her the story of the film she was shooting and it seemed very appropriate to me.
It seems that one is watching the making-of. Did you plan it like this?
Partly yes, although without knowing the result. I use this method in many of my documentaries because this way, more interesting or revealing topics tend to emerge than those of the film itself. I make the film while exposing what is behind the scenes.
Do the most valuable scenes in a documentary arise at the most unexpected moments?
In this case, it was something I had in mind when I asked Ali to do the film with me, as he provides me with unexpected moments all the time. I knew she would surprise me, as she does in everyday life.
Do the girl’s words and actions exemplify the conflict?
Yes. Yasmin, who is now an extraordinary woman, has lived experiences as the daughter of an Israeli and a Palestinian that we cannot imagine and perceives the problem in different ways.
Ali worried about the burden of conflict on him. And you?
We handle it differently because both situations cannot be compared. His family lost their home in 1948 and were expelled from his town, so he is a direct victim who has lived his entire life in Israel as an internal refugee.
He shot the film during the Arab Spring. Were you encouraged by the hope of the times?
For a time it seemed that an alternative was opening up for the Arab world, these were very encouraging moments, but we have already seen that this has not been the case.
In the end they ask themselves “where will we be in ten years?” Were they afraid of the answer?
It was a question thrown into the air, ten years have passed and we have the answer. During this period, after the Arab Spring, nothing good has happened and there is no expectation in the present of the Middle East.
Are documentaries, which live a sweet moment, the best way to bring the conflict closer?
All genres are good at explaining what happens.
What do you look for in a film when you participate in the jury? (will do it in MajorDocs)
The main thing for me, whether as a jury or as an individual, is that the films absorb me, transport me, do not allow me the option of abandoning them and closing my eyes while I watch them.
The festival poster shows several moths around a point of light. The metaphor is that creators search for light and truth, and sometimes they are hurt. Do you feel that?
Not at all. When I make my films, I feel safe. Luckily, I’m not afraid, as can happen to a filmmaker in Iran or somewhere like that.
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