JERUSALEM IN LINE

Jerusalem in Line-

Jewish director Amir Har-Gil and Arab assistant director Isfahan Bahalul decided to return and find out what has changed in East Jerusalem.

Follow up film.

13 years after filming “Line Up” that focused on Palestinians possessing blue Israeli identity cards, Har-Gil, a Jewish kibbutz member and Bahalul, an Arab resident of Akko, returned to examine what has happened to the film’s heroes, whether there was a change in the way they were treated; to find out whether the screenings at the High Court of Justice and at the Knesset contributed anything, did any change occur. The new film uses new materials as well as segments of the old one.

13 years ago East Jerusalem residents used to get up early and equipped with food and drinks, they would queue up ahead of time in the line outside the Ministry of the Interior. Women with babies, old and young men waited, crammed side by side in inhuman conditions, for the ministry to open its bureau in the morning. The harsh reality reveals a Kafkaesque picture which reflects the variety of claims and problems Palestinian residents have with Israeli authorities. The film provoked interest.

• Nominated finalist for Best Documentary Feature- SR Socially Relevant (TM) Film Festival New York, Manhattan, N.Y.C, 2018
• Award winner, The Impact DOCS Awards, La Jolla, CA, USA, 2017
• The Best 2015 Documentary, UK Film Festival, London.Platinum Prize, Filmmakers’ World Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2016.
• Golden Award, World Human Rights Awards, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2016.
• Golden Award, Human Rights Awards, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2015.
• Honorable Mention, Filmmaker Film Festival, Malaga, Spain, 2015.

Director: Prof. Amir Har-Gil

Assistant Director: Isfahan Bahalul

Production: Prof. Amir Har-Gil & Udi Kalinsky, Provid Film Producers Ltd

Editors: Michal Ranon & Matan Alyagor

Photographer: Ofer Yanoov

Length: 60 mins. Israel, 2015

“In his wise and warm film Har-Gil exposes the magnitude of the Isra-bluff of unite Jerusalem. He turns upside down the way we are used to examine events. Come and listen to a story of a single line, suggests Har-Gil, and you will understand the whole story.” (Yael Gvirtz, Yediot Aharonot)  

“An infuriating, stomach-churning film, a key to understanding the Palestinian side of the conflict.”(Koby Niv, Maariv)    

“The atrocious bureaucracy Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem have to undergo in all their dealings with the Israeli State.      Did reality change since? Did the film help change it? What happened to the protagonists? The picture reveals a microcosm of the way Israeli establishment treats Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. Did Isam manage to get medicaments for dialysis and was saved? Is Rana able to leave the country? does she appear in the Ministry’s records? Does Ghaleb go on living in a tent and paying taxes for a house which was destroyed by the authorities?” (Benny Ziffer, Haaretz)