Budrus (Documentary and Q&A)

A/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem will be screening the documentary Budrus on March 20th and hosting a Q&A with one of the filmmakers. The film profiles Budrus, a small Palestinian village, whose residents collectively engaged in a long and dedicated (and successful) campaign in nonviolence to push the construction of the separation wall around their village instead of allowing it passage right through, as the Israeli government originally planned. It is a tremendous film/story (with excellent production) and has fallen to the center of many social movement discussions around non-violence and movement strategizing, and also tagged as a practical training tool in and of itself for other villages in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and locations around the world that have been engaged in similar struggles.

One of the things the film does remarkably well is its concerted effort toward non-polarization as it documents the Palestinian struggle. The main premise is not a negative stance to say that Israel is bad, but rather a positive stance championing self-determination in the sense that Palestinian villages simply want control over their own lives and land; a stance that says that if the Israeli government wants to build a so-called security wall, the prerogative to do so is entirely theirs, but it should be done on their own land instead of annexing Palestinian land and cutting Palestinians off from what little resources they have. As a powerful display of solidarity, Israeli supporters stand on the front lines side by side with Palestinians during their non-violent actions. This is significant as polarizing efforts can easily shut down discussion around the topics they bring up, while non-polarizing efforts like this one work thoughtfully at generating quality dialog.

With that said, I've been increasingly interested in this film for its underlying environmental justice and food sovereignty implications. As the film depicts the critical concern of the villagers of Budrus for their lands and olive trees as both are being stripped away, the film presents an opportunity to look at social events in the context of food and land rights that aren’t ostensibly packaged that way, but are relevant and at work all the same. It’s a process of accepting dynamic perspectives for dynamic issues. Also, if you consider the global boycott movement against Israeli products that sustain the occupation of Palestinian land, it reintroduces the ethics of consumer choice in the sense of social justice (that’s so closely tied with environmental justice) back into dialogs of sustainability and green consumerism.

The power of the film speaks to a diverse range of interests, and the sustainability and food movement crowds are definitely included. Community groups and organizations can arrange for block ticket purchases by contacting jessica@justvision.org.

Ticket prices are:

Adult (regular admission) - $8.50

Student (with college id) - $7.00

Senior (60+) - $7.00

Kids (12 & under) - $5.00

Matinee (any show before 5 pm)- $6.50