Students bring blockbuster film `Bab el Shams' to Israel

Dr. Khaleel is trying to get the unconscious Youness, the hero of the Palestinian revolution, to talk about his pain and tell his story. In an effort to treat Youness, Khaleel attempts to revive his memory, as the audience is regaled with the tales of Youness' lover Nahila and other refugees dreaming about returning home.

A group of Arab students from the University of Haifa decided a few weeks ago to bring the movie "Bab el Shams" ("The Gate of Sun"), which uses Khaleel, Youness and Nahila to tell the Palestinian story from 1943 until 1994, to an Israeli Arab audience. On Thursday, some 300 people gathered in the northern village of Dabburiya to watch the Egyptian-French production, which is based on a romance by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury, was directed by Yousry Nasrallah from Egypt and has been a major topic on the Palestinian culture scene since its 1994 release.

"We thought the movie was part of our national identity," said Amani Abrahim, a University of Haifa law school graduate. "This is a movie whose topic is particularly exciting; it speaks about the components of the Palestinian subject, from cultural and political perspectives, about things that exist in our society."

"The creators of the movie also refer to Arabs who remained within the boundaries of Israel and refugees within Israel, and these are things that speak to the audience," she said.

The whispering that accompanied the first few minutes of the movie made it feel as though the very arrival of the film to Dabburiya was the central event, but as the screening continued, the content of the movie became increasingly important.

"There's nothing like a movie to tell a story, and there has been nothing like this movie until today," said Samih Genadri, a publicist and Balad party activist in Nazareth. "I have read a lot about the history of our nation, but the uniqueness of this movie lies in its personal perspective, in that there is no unruliness and righteousness and no attempt to idealize the Palestinian people."

Genadri said he particularly appreciated the "human side" of the movie and its willingness to show that Palestinian society has its weaknesses.

"The movie also portrays points of weakness: sometimes retardation, sometimes cultural reaction and sins," he said. "It shows the approach to women. I think this may be the most natural Arab movie, the nicest from the perspective of the image of the Palestinian woman. The woman in the movie fights, wants to study, wants to love, wants to divorce freely. This movie has a human side that shows not everyone is a hero, a progressive or a fanatic, it shows that the society is a living and vibrant society and it has different sectors, while all the time there's a dispute going on."

Auni Bana, who is studying communication and information systems at the University of Haifa, said the movie deeply affected the Israeli Arab audience.

"The movie arouses a lot of emotions," said Bana. "People leave it with tears in their eyes. The movie speaks about their pain, about the conflict in which they're living."