Film of the Week #35

May 26th - June 2nd 2021

Private Investigation (2002)

Documentary, 1h 30m

".... I used to ... all Palestinian kids in Israel, used to hold the Israeli flag and sing for Israel in Arabic. Each year we used to do that, to celebrate, we would prepare dance shows, theater plays and songs! A lot of decorations and flags everywhere... And no one said anything. Imagine we used to stand on lines at the schoolyard each with his little blue and white flag. But the next day which is the Independence Day, a free day when all families and friends were supposed to go out on a picnic somewhere, or to the beach... my father always used to be sick and we never left the house on that specific day.

This is my story, this memory is mine. It goes back twenty years and it has branched out and played an essential part in my buildup, in what I am today. This film was born as I was rethinking all of this, and from my feeling haunted by the deafening silence of my country.

It is a documentary on living as a Palestinian in the Israeli state, holding an Israeli ID card and a Palestinian memory and belonging.”

Director: Ula Tabari

private investigation poster.jpeg