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The
Children of Shatila
Mai Masri
More than
350,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon,
15,000 of them in the refugee camp of Shatila
in Beirut. Through the eyes of two children
who live in this camp, Issa and Farah, this
documentary explores the determination to
keep family and dreams thriving in a landscape
that has been sculpted by war, poverty,
grief and displacement.
Issa, a little
boy who lives with his grandfather, sustained
severe injuries when he was hit by a speeding
car and has trouble learning in school.
Farah lives with her parents and two sisters.
The children’s memories and history
are shaped by the violence that surrounds
them. Both have lost family in the massacres
and attacks that followed the 1948 Diaspora
and the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel.
An aunt was decapitated, an uncle shot —
every family and friend they know has lost
someone to the violence.
The filmmaker
gives Issa and Farah a small video camera
to film their lives and learn how they see
their own world. Both children start asking
their elders how they felt about leaving
Palestine. When queried about what he wants
to tell the new generation of Palestinians,
an old man asks that Palestine must never
be forgotten. “Promise me that,”
he tells the children.
The poverty
of Shatila offers little escape. Farah’s
mother says that when her children tell
her their dreams she feels “awkward
and afraid to shock them with the truth,”
and wonders about the kind of future that
lies ahead. Yet both children inspire viewers
with their ability to keep their hearts
and minds open. Farah tells a nursery class,
“Imagining is the main thing, even
if you only draw a bird.” And Issa
has a wonderful dream where he is a prince.
While the
focus is on the lives of children, this
documentary is not suitable for younger
children. It is appropriate for mature young
adults, and university and community audiences
interested in learning about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, life in the refugee camps, and
the lasting effects of war.
Other films by Mai Masri
Frontiers of Dreams & Fears
Children of Fire
Hanan Ashrawi: A Woman of Her Time
Related Links
Children
of Shatila website
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