"The 1956 Massacre That Haunts a Palestinian Village in Israel Makes It to the Screen"
"Two years ago, the transcripts from the trial of the 11 Israeli officers, which was held the following year, were finally released. The authorities said they had been kept under wraps because the severity of the details would jeopardize Israel's national security. The filmmakers have made the decision to reenact segments of those transcripts in the new documentary."
Skudeneshavn 27. mai 2024
Jan Marton Jensem
HELE artikkelen om Kafr Qasem 26. mai 2024 i Haaretz:
At a time when Israel demands that the world constantly be reminded of the unimaginable horrors of October 7, one of the most talked about documentaries screened at Tel Aviv's DocAviv festival (May 24-June 1) dares to examine the atrocities of a massacre which many young Israeli know very little about.
On Friday, dozens of viewers from the Palestinian-Israeli village Kafr Qasem arrived to Tel Aviv on private buses. They all came to watch the new documentary "The 1957 Transcripts," (called "Black Flag" in Hebrew), on the October 29 massacre which took place in their village 67 years ago.
The documentary, a production of Yes Docu, was made by three Israeli women: director Ayelet Heller, producer Osnat Trabelsi and editor Hadas Ayalon. Using archival material, reenactments and interviews with survivors and relatives of victims, the three tell the story of that bloody day, which was etched in the memory of Israeli-Palestinians to this day.
Between the establishment of Israel in 1948 and 1966, Kafr Qasem was under Israeli military rule, along with all other Palestinian villages which ended up inside Israel. The residents weren't allowed to move around freely, and were put under curfew every night.
On that historical day, dozens of Kafr Qasem's residents went out to work in the fields not knowing that the curfew would begin at an earlier hour than usual. Everyone who returned to their homes after 5 PM was shot by members of Israel's Border Police; 49 Palestinian women, children and men died on the spot or eventually succumbed to their wounds. David Ben-Gurion's government tried its best to hide the event's details from the Israeli public, but they were leaked weeks later.
Two years ago, the transcripts from the trial of the 11 Israeli officers, which was held the following year, were finally released. The authorities said they had been kept under wraps because the severity of the details would jeopardize Israel's national security. The filmmakers have made the decision to reenact segments of those transcripts in the new documentary.
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Filmmaker Ayelet Heller at the screening of he documentary film 'The 1957 Transcripts' at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, on Friday.Credit: Hadas Parush "The 1957 Transcripts,"
which will be screened again on Monday, manages to expose the huge gaps
in the narratives of the two sides. More than anything, it spotlights
an idea that a lot of Israelis still believe in, which made the tragic
events possible: that the Palestinians in Israel are a fifth column, and
a constant threat that must be contained, controlled and repressed. The film's final edit was done in September 2023, and Heller, the
director, was afraid nobody was going to be interested in seeing it at a
time of war. Many people advised her to wait for better timing. But
current events only make this important film more relevant than ever. |
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