Encounter Point

Sometimes I'm faced with questions like: "How can you still do this after all you've been through? You could have great status in your society. You have the right to hate." But I tell them I don't have to love Israelis to make peace with them. And I'm not asked to forgive the soldier who killed my brother. I'll never forgive him.
Ali Abu Awwad, Palestinian

Sometimes I'm very angry with myself that I didn't protect my child. So what do you do with this pain? Do you take it and look for revenge and keep the whole cycle of violence going, or do you choose another path to prevent further death and further pain to other parents."
Robi Damelin, Israeli

Reverberations from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are felt worldwide. It is perhaps the most divisive, polarizing and documented political issue of our time. Encounter Point moves beyond sensational, dogmatic and canned images to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a convicted Palestinian fighter, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian ex-prisoner who sacrifice their safety, public standing, communities and homes in order to press for a grassroots movement for nonviolence and peace. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to stem hatred among their peoples and confront fear within themselves. Encounter Point explores what drives these and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for peace. Without dogma or righteousness, it implicitly asks why, with the world's cameras focused on this conflict, we have never heard about these courageous and vital efforts?

The film's protagonists, true civic leaders, endure suicide bombings and checkpoints to meet with militants on both sides, the wounded and apathetic masses. Audiences are left with a sense that the gulf between Israelis and Palestinians is at once bridgeable and tremendously wide.

Over the last decade, in the face of devastating violence and pain, thousands of ordinary people have been stepping forward to end the bloodshed, preserve human rights and promote reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians. Yet even though Palestinians and Israelis who support peace outnumber the militants, their voices are continually drowned out by sensational, explosive headlines. Keenly aware of this gap in media coverage, I assembled a crew of Palestinians, North Americans and Israelis to document a few of these forgotten heroes. After 475 preliminary interviews, 2 years of research and 16 months of production, our multi-national, multi-lingual team selected a handful of subjects from both sides, built unprecedented relations of trust with them, and gained deep access to their lives and work.

Encounter Point tells the story of several Palestinians and Israelis who have sacrificed something deeply precious to them as a result of the conflict. These characters have lost liberty, community, public standing, safety and homes. Some even lost children. Yet all have confronted their anger and grief in order to press for a dignified end to the conflict. As Ali Abu Awwad, one of the main protagonists of the film states, "Sometimes people ask me, 'how can you do this after all you've been through?' But I tell them, 'I don't have to love Israelis to make peace with them, and I'm not asked to forgive the soldier who killed my brother, I will never forgive him.'"

Our subjects' stories are by no means romantic; they face widespread opposition, and at times trip on their own feet. Yet they persevere. We follow them from Telmond to Tulkarem; from a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv to the funeral of a 12-year-old Palestinian girl in Bethlehem, to the first conversation between a former Israeli settler and a former Palestinian prisoner. The film's subjects are at the vanguard of a movement to push Palestinian and Israeli societies to reach a tipping point, forging a new consensus for nonviolence and peace. Perhaps years from now, their actions will be recognized as a catalyst for constructive change in the region.

Shot in Arabic and Hebrew by a team that wholly mirrors the subject matter, Encounter Point is a film about hope, about true courage and, implicitly, about silence – the silence of journalists and politicians who pay little attention to vital Palestinian and Israeli grassroots peace efforts. As Robi Damelin, a bereaved Israeli mother states, "There is no pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, there is pro-solution." Encounter Point moves beyond sensational images and challenges all of us to look for the civic leaders within our midst.

Ronit Avni (2006)

Winner, Best First Documentary Award, DOCUPOLIS International Documentary Festival of Barcelona, 2007
Winner, Grand Jury Prize Best Documentary, Sao Paulo Jewish Film Festival, 2007
Winner, Audience Award Best Documentary, San Francisco International Film Festival, 2006
Winner, Audience Award Best Documentary, Rencontres Film Festival, 2006
Winner, Spirit of Freedom Award, Bahamas International Film Festival, 2006
Winner, Best Musical Score, Bend Film Festival, 2006
Opening Night Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival, 2006
Named Top 4 Best Films in the Festival by Festival Director Peter Scarlett, Tribeca Film Festival, 2006

DIRECTED BY Ronit Avni CO-DIRECTED BY Julia Bacha PRODUCED BY Ronit Avni Joline Makhlouf Nahanni Rous WRITTEN AND EDITED BY Julia Bacha CO-PRODUCED BY Mickey Elkeles Darius Fisher FILMED BY Mickey Elkeles Ronit Avni Julia Bacha Labib Jazmawi ORIGINAL SCORE BY Kareem Roustom SOUND EDITOR Scott Freiman ASSISTANT EDITOR Ned Jaszi ASSOCIATE PRODUCED BY Daniel Chalfen EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Ronit Avni Jehane Noujaim FEATURING Ali Abu Awwad Sami Al Jundi Rutie Atsmon Robi Damelin George Sa’adeh Tzvika Shahak Aziz Tanji Shlomo Zagman ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY Tahrir Fakhr Eddin Mohammad Fawzi Lydia Khoury SOUND Tahrir Fakhr Eddin Alex Epstein PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Leora Gal Jared Levine Ana Rosansky MUSICIANS Kinan Abou-Afach - Cello Tareq Aboushi - Buzuq Nathaniel Barrett - Cello Hanna Khoury - Violin Chloe Kline - Viola Karim Nagi - Percussion Kareem Roustom - 'Ud & Guitar Bassam Saba - Nay Jamal Sinno - Qannun Ilene Stahl - Clarinet Thafer Tawil - Percussion RECORDED BY Scott Freiman - Second Act Studio Irvington, NY Rob Ruccia - Uptown Recording Chicago, IL John Weston - Futura Productions Boston, MA ORIGINAL SCORE MIX John Weston - Futura Productions Boston, MA SOUND RECORDING Scott Freiman - Second Act Studio WRITTEN BY Julia Bacha SCORE PRODUCED BY Kareem Roustom "BURNT ONIONS” BY EL-ZAFEER ENSEMBLE Composed by Kareem Roustom ©2005 Layali Music BMI Courtesy of Fuller Street Music "TAQSIM BAYYATI” BY KAREEM ROUSTOM © 2005 Layali Music BMI END CREDITS MUSIC "Wesal" by Wissam Murad From The Album, "Min Ba'd" © 2005 Sabreen Productions EDITING STUDIO PROVIDED BY Sabreen Productions MAIN TITLE/GRAPHIC DESIGN Robert Davidian GRAPHIC DESIGN Cory Shaw DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE SUPERVISOR Darius Fisher DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE COORDINATORR Melanie Franciosi ONLINE POST PRODUCTION & MOTION GRAPHICS Digital Neural Axis COLORIST Teague Cowley COLOR CORRECTION SERVICES PROVIDED BY Tunnel Post, Inc. ONLINE SUPERVISOR Julia Bacha TRAILER CREATIVE CONSULTANT John O'Hara CONSULTING PRODUCER Kim Snyder TRANSLATORS Ronit Avni Eitan Buchvall Leora Gal Khader Khader Joline Makhlouf Wendy Pearlman Misha Shulman Yahav Zohar ACCOUNTING & ADMINISTRATION Earthways Foundation