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The film Budrus is a 2009 documentary from Julia Bacha the acclaimed writer of Control Room and co-director of Encounter Point. It follows the Palestinian protest against the building of a security fence (Israeli West Bank Barrier) by the Israeli government on Palestine land.
Budrus is a small town with a population of around 1,500 people and the main source of income for most in the village is farming, specifically Olive farming. The building of the West Bank Barrier would cause the town of Budrus to be surrounded by the barrier and would also cause the loss of 300 acres of land as well as run through the towns cemetery. The loss if this land would result in farmers losing around 3,000 olive trees a valuable sources of income that would impact this community heavily.
The town of Budrus lead by Ayed Morrar, the towns most prominent activist, have long chosen to lead only peaceful protest. They feel that in adopting a non-violent path frustrates the Israeli’s more because they will find it harder to fall back on there considerably stronger military force. What made the town of Budrus even more unique in their approach to protest was the use of women and also the help they received from Israeli peace protesters.
Until now women had rarely been used in any forms of protest in the middle east and even more rare was the sight of an all female protest. The women of Budrus felt it was there duty to become involved and also thought the Israeli soldiers would be less inclined to use excessive force. The town of Budrus also received support and help from known Israeli activist who gravitated towards their insistence upon maintaing peaceful protest.
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It would be very easy for this documentary to get caught up in the bigger picture and focus more on the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people. However it seems the filmmakers would prefer this to be the story of the town of Budrus and their victory rather than it being a victory for the Palestinians. Indeed the documentary paints it as a story of a small community who are becoming the victims of a war they cannot control. There is little in the way of facts, figures and stats within this film it relies more on the ground in-action visuals and talking head interviews with significant Budrus town people and Israeli soldiers.
The film did open my eyes to the fact that I know far to little about this subject matter and after viewing I immediately sought to rectify this. I’m not going to start spouting my political views but I do feel this is a conflict that has not had the coverage it’s merits in the past few years.
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Films like this are there to provoke interest and raise awareness. At points you have to remember that the way theses people live is very different to the way most of western society lives. The towns they live in are far more community based and its more the norm that if one person suffers in the town it directly effects the rest of the people within that community.
For anybody out there who has a strong interest in world events I would say give this film a go. It can get a little plodding towards the middle and at points seems a little one sided. But the whole point of the documentary is not who is right the Israeli’s or the Palestinians. Its the question of is it right for the people of Budrus to lose their land to protect the security of those opposed to them?
Budrus is available from 9th of May 2011 from Dogwoof RRP: £14.99 Best price found www.amazon.co.uk £8.99
Special Features – Theatrical Trailer, Fabulous Picture Show of Budrus, Trailers and Deleted Scenes
Anyway peace out suckers! 7/10
