Awards
WINNER Bronze Award, Worldfest-Flagstaff
Kibbutz Megiddo was founded in 1949 by a group of Holocaust survivors, whose children and grandchildren still maintain the land. Creation of the kibbutz came, however, at the expense of local Arab villagers, whose land -a village then called Lejun- was confiscated. Locals were displaced from their homes, their farms and their livelihoods.Yagoda first arrived at Kibbutz Megiddo in 1977 as part of his military service and discovered that his mother had been one of the cooperative's original group of refugee settlers. His return visit 17 years later offers an interesting and reasonably balanced look at how locals on both sides view the conflict.
Yagoda interviews numerous kibbutz residents, all of whom are passionate about the land that serves as their home. Many are sensitive to the fact that others were displaced for their benefit. Nobody on the kibbutz denies the history of the place, but many seem to have emotionally detached themselves from it, for their own mental well-being as residents with no plans to leave.One particularly poignant moment -the most powerful sign that the place's history has not been forgotten- has a kibbutz resident comparing the Arab expulsion from the land to Germans driving Jews from their homes across Eastern Europe.
“What they did sprang naturally from the spirit of decent humans.”
–Richard F. Shepard, The New York Times.“An important work of art.”
–Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Laureate“A film about resistance to make us all proud. Filmed so directly that we provide the emotions.”
–Jay Leyda, Film History Scholar“Luminous.”
–Jean Houston, Scholar, philosopher, Human Potential Movement.“An extraordinary lesson in dignity, as if it were whispered.”
–Louis Marcorelles, Le Monde (France)“A beautiful film, rigorous and free of pathos.”
–Alfred Brochard, Le Soir (Belgium)
The National Center For Jewish Film
Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS053, Waltham MA 02454
P: (781) 899 7044, F: (781) 736 2070
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