Last update - 00:00 29/01/2007
Sundance-winning director urges massive prisoner release
By Haaretz Service
Shimon Dotan, director of "Hot House," the first Israeli film to win a special jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival's documentary film competition, said in remarks broadcast Monday that Israel should initiate a mass release of Palestinian prisoners.
"Hot House" features interviews with Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The film examines the prisoners' political positions, airs confessions by people who planned and implemented terror attacks, and reflects the deepening schism between Fatah and Hamas prior to Hamas' rise to power a year ago.
"Just as Israel exploits the prisoner issue negatively, there is also the potential to take advantage of it in a positive sense, that is, to massively release prisoners as part of a more comprehensive move," Dotan told Israel Radio.
"I traveled a great deal in the territories, visiting with the families of prisoners. The weight that the [prisoner] issue carries in Palestinian society is enormous. Israel has power now, and Israel should initiate a dramatic step."
The film, whose Hebrew title is "Bitchonim," short for prisoners arrested and held for offenses classed as terror-related or activities hostile to Israel, is to be aired on Israel Channel One Television on Sunday.
Israeli cinema scored impressive achievements in the prestigious festival in Park City, Utah, on Sunday, when two of its representatives won prizes: "Hot House," and "Sweet Mud," directed by Dror Shaul, the first Israeli film ever to win a grand jury prize for a feature film.
Sundance, which is intended mostly for independent films, has four categories: documentaries, feature films, international documentaries and international feature films. The Israeli films won prizes for non-American productions in the latter two categories.