Synopsis
Foragers depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine/Israel with wry humor and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee and Jerusalem, it employs fiction, documentary and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. The restrictions prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like ’akkoub and za’atar (thyme), and have resulted in fines and trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants.
A word from Tënk
It would be comical to see Palestinian foragers playing cat-and-mouse games with Israeli park rangers over a few wild artichokes… Yes, were we not in this part of the world, that’s rarely been shown so lush and green. Here, the season of akkoubs rhymes with fines and prison sentences. Knives are sharpened on the stones and the smallest gestures become acts of resistance. Through the wild plants and their traditional uses, Jumana Manna reveals to us both the soul of Palestinian culture and above all the importance of this bond with the land and its flora. A land seized in the name of ecology to better serve Israeli crops and agro-industry. The staged interrogations also reveal the absurdity of the situation and the resilience of a people. A struggle between the earthen pot and the iron pot, the bitterness of which persists in the simmered dishes within the families.
Éva Tourrent
Filmmaker and Tënk France's Artistic Director
