Sarura: The Future is an Unknown Place
At the gates of the Negev desert, a group of young Palestinians fight against the Israeli military occupation. “”Youth of Sumud” – the youth of steadfast perseverance – try to return to their people the land that was taken from their families, restructuring the ancient cave village of Sarura.
They face aggression with nonviolent action, defending themselves from rifles with their video cameras; they oppose desolation and death with hope and life.
Ten years after their first documentary on the nonviolent struggle in the West Bank, the directors return to the village of At-Tuwani and, using archival material more than 15 years old, tell how the children have grown up.They face aggression with nonviolent action, defending themselves from rifles with their video cameras; they oppose desolation and death with hope and life.
Ten years after their first documentary on the nonviolent struggle in the West Bank, the directors return to the village of At-Tuwani and, using archival material more than 15 years old, tell how the children have grown up.Today the caves of Sarura have been restored by a group of young Palestinians, gathered in a collective called “Youth of Sumud” (resistance): they are the sons and daughters of nonviolent militants of the popular resistance committee of the adjacent village of At- Tuwani, who for more than 20 years have managed to resist evacuation attempts of their land thanks to nonviolent actions and the solidarity of Israeli and international peace activists.
The boys and girls of YOS are trying to bring back life in the village of Sarura, planting olive trees, escorting the shepherds of the area with their cameras and helping other villages threatened with eviction orders by the Israeli government with their presence. A fragile but powerful struggle, capable of undermining the expansion plans of the government of Israel that would like to remove all the shepherds of the area.
With “Tomorrow’s Land” (2010) we talked about At-Tuwani’s experience of resistance, today with “Sarura” we want to imagine the future that will come together with the new generation
Nicola Zambelli (1981) is an Italian documentary filmmaker. Graduated in Hermeneutic Philosophy with a thesis on the narrative identity of the Self in a comparison between philosophy, photography and documentary cinema, he obtains a Master in documentary at the IED in Milan.
He is one of the founders of SMK Factory, an independent production company with whom he has made several documentaries awarded at international festivals and screened all over the world. SMK is the creator of the independent distribution portal OpenDDB, a multilingual digital platform inspired by the open source philosophy that promotes documentary cinema and independent culture through VOD and non-theatrical circuitry, collaborating with cultural associations and independent cinemas.
