Encounter Point (2006)

Crappy film

Absolutely Brilliant!

A Disappointing Continuation

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

That unusual thing; a documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that manages to be hopeful (if still heartbreaking). It focuses an various groups' attempts to find way to forge bonds and end the hatred. Most touching is the group for bereaved parents from both side of the conflict who've lost children in the fighting and who come together to share their pain. Somehow the film as a whole didn't have quite the overwhelming emotional impact it seemed to be headed for, but still a very good, important and worthy documentary.

Israel-Palestine is a region which the West knows far too little about. About its very complex history, but also about the people and their everyday worries. This documentary follows Jewish and Palestinian (Muslim and Christian) peace activists who have lost relatives in the conflict -- through suicide bombers, snipers, trigger-happy soldiers or just as plain "collateral damage". They know how terrible it is to lose a loved one and want to spare others the same misery. The glass eye of the camera follows them around in a plain, fly-on-the-wall (cinéma vérité) approach. They include the dreaded "activist mother" as well as a bull-necked former soldier, a future assistant mayor and a would-have-been bomb builder. What makes them so appealing is that they are normal, diverse people on a difficult mission.One scene shows us a group of Israelis visiting a group of Palestinians in the occupied territory; the Israelis chicken out and want to change the location, their Palestinian go-between becomes annoyed and, like a stroppy child, refuses to talk to them on the phone. When they finally meet, the Israeli group leader chides him: "If only you would have talked to me, we could have cleared this up in five minutes!". In another scene, an Israeli mother challenges settlers with advocating Apartheid. A settler mother responds that if she wants them to give up the settlement, this means digging up all their dead. A Palestinian woman describes how a settler has smashed all her windows in order to get her family to abandon their home.Scenes like these convey more emotional information than long essays. This is what makes this documentary so gripping to watch.

Thank you, this movie gives me hope.I was at the screening of this film at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. The audience laughed, cried and cheered. This documentary presented complex and real representations of people on all sides of this conflict. It makes you think! Ultimately, we see the Other as human...As someone said, it's not about being pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. It's about being pro-human! Must see!Thank you, again.

I saw this documentary on the Tribeca film festival in New York, and it's a very impressive movie about the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian ordinary people to try to achieve peace by meeting each other and try to get to understand each other. They all have in common that they lost family members in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle (or should I say war?), but decided to put the hatred behind them and concentrate on saving the living, while still acknowledging their losses.The movie does a good job showing how these people on both side of the fence work to achieve their goals and the difficulties they experience, and try to get other people also to leave their hatred behind, and resist hate and occupation through non-violent means. I found it a welcome glimpse into Israeli and Palestinian society, that shows there is something else possible beside fundamentalism (Jewish or Muslim).If it is showing near you or on TV, see it if you can!