AMMAN — A Palestinian movie called “Between
Heaven and Earth” and directed by
Najwa Najjar, recently premiered in Amman.
The movie tracks the story of two Palestinians and their struggle in life and
the occupation.
اضافة اعلان
Najjar, who received her Bachelor’s in Political Science and
Economics, and Master’s in Film/Video Production in the US, began her career
making commercials and has worked in both
documentary and fiction since 2000.
“Between Heaven and Earth” is a drama that first premiered in
2019. It was shot in Palestine and filming only took 24 days. "I insisted
to film the whole movie in Palestine, and to allow kids to see the Palestine
that their families and parents were deprived of," Najjar told
Jordan News.
The inspiration for the movie began in a falafel shop in Haifa,
when the owner told Najjar about his son refusing a scholarship to London
because he guarded a destroyed village called Iqrit from
Israeli settlers.
The director said that she felt ashamed because she had never
heard of Iqrit before. So, she arranged a trip to the village, which was 3km
away from the Lebanese border, but not showing on Google maps.
"After 10 hours of driving, my partner saw a church on the
road, we stopped there and a young woman and two men who were forced out of
Iqrit greeted us and told us how their grandparents had watched the destruction
of their village," Najjar said.
"People were living in dark times there, but I still saw
hope and love in Iqrit," she said, adding that she decided to write a
story and spread awareness about those who guard villages like Iqrit.
The film focuses on two main characters that are getting a
divorce: Salma and Tamer played by Mouna
Hawa and Firas Nassar.
It is a fictional movie, but it’s based on true political events
about Palestine. It tells stories that people are not familiar with; stories
that happen inside Palestine but never make it out.
"It is super beautiful to tell our stories as the Arab world
in general and Palestine particularly in our way and language," Najjar
said.
The couple, Salma and Tamer, are around 30 years old, and have
been married for five years in the Palestinian Territories before they decide
to get a divorce.
Tamer is the son of a famous intellectual revolutionary killed
in Beirut, and when he gets permission to obtain a three-day permit to cross Israeli
checkpoints and go to the city of Nazareth to complete divorce procedures, the
couple learn a secret about Tamer’s father’s past.
After that, they embark on a journey in which they explore
themselves and the loss and betrayal they face.
The couple still feels that they have a lot of things in common
and their story acts as a metaphor for the conflict happening in the Middle
East. "The story touches on the conflict, the history, and the love for
Palestine at the same time," Najjar added.
One of Najjar's goals in the movie was to show how Israel is
trying to separate Palestine from other Arab countries, "they are trying
to divorce us from each other," she said.
Moreover, the film’s music draws from singers all over the Arab world,
to add an essence of unity.
The staff also faced many challenges filming in the Palestinian
Territories. "We faced many difficulties while shooting, and four of the
staff were arrested, but happily we got through everything together,"
Najjar said. “Moving between the Palestinian Territories while filming was
difficult.”
The film, which won first place at the 2019
Cairo International Film Festival (2019) and many other awards, is currently
playing at Baraka mall.
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