Five broken cameras – and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
Direction
Burnat films his own life, his own losses, his own broken cameras.
Editing
Each destroyed camera marks another chapter, another escalation.
Cinematography
Bullet holes in lens become accidental framing devices.
Director
Guy Davidi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Burnat was detained at LAX en route to the Oscars, where the film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature; immigration didn't believe a Palestinian farmer could be an Academy Award nominee.
Bil'in's weekly protests became a global symbol of Palestinian nonviolent resistance, directly influencing international activist movements including Occupy Wall Street's tactics.
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