The Israeli-Palestine divide is seen from both sides at the Voices Forward Film Festival. Now in its third year, the festival attempts to do what years of conflict resolution have yet to achieve: to bring two opposing cultures together. This year’s theme, “In the Eye of the Storm,” focuses on Hebron, the West Bank’s second largest city, once home to peaceful Arabs and Jews and now so war-torn and restricted that it’s become a virtual ghost town.
Celebrating the experiences of standout artists from either background, the five-day film festival features 13 incisive films by Palestinian and Israeli directors, telling the human stories that often fall by the wayside and touching on expressions of anger and resentment as well as love and understanding. Among them is the Gemini-Award winning short Moshe & Munir, reflecting on the challenging lives of two old friends — one Israeli, one Palestinian — and You, Me, Jerusalem, the first-ever doc to be co-directed by a Palestinian (George Khleifi) and an Israeli (Micha X. Peled).
Voices Forward arrives on the heels of both the first-ever Toronto Palestine Film Festival and last week’s International Diaspora Film Festival, each shining a light on two cultures that struggle to be understood by each other as well as by outsiders.