Jenin, Jenin is a film that never ceases to be pulled in the present. It always returns. Bakri’s film leaves you with no words, or maybe at least a smile at the very last second. Because in front of this level of destruction and injustice, the only response one can have is to have nothing more to say. Bakri’s film is this precise moment that reminds you of human connection. The people, the men, the women, the children, the elderly, they say it all. They speak to you directly. They’ve been saying it all. They have been speaking to you directly. That this film is timeless is not about the way it is seen but about the way Bakri has created an enduring space for the people to voice and roar. To have the time to express their pains, to address them and for people to connect to these voices. And Bakri has listened. He has taken the time to hear. He has paid attention to the anger, to the pain, the yearning, the sadness and the resilience. He has simply listened and has questioned how you choose to listen and why you don’t. They said again and again that nobody is going anywhere. And from their past, their present and their future, from generation to generation, they have shared the record of their people’s lives and stories. They have presented you with their deepest thoughts and they have reminded you that like you, they all deserve to live. 

Nada El-Omari
Filmmaker and writer