Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)
Captivating documentary on the Gaza Strip just weeks after the cease-fire of 2009, “Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)” by Nicolas Wadimoff remember the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Several should be inspired.
Nicolas Wadimoff is best known in Quebec for having co-directed “Stowaways” with Denis Chouinard. That was in 1996. Much water has flowed since. The offerings have followed, including documentaries on Palestine. The last list was devoted to the Gaza Strip. Shot on location in February 2009 for 13 days, the test slice with the many productions that abound on the market.
The action focuses on its people. There are no speeches by politicians or economists, but only the words of its Palestinian inhabitants. The narration is also absent. Ignoring the information that appears to locate the place or people, there is no other indicator to guide the narrative. A risky idea that wears off. The camera wanders like a ghost, capturing snippets of life. Here a man asks his son to help him plow his field. There are students who enjoy role-playing.
The process may seem redundant. Nobody will be followed from beginning to end. Instead, each being is a microcosm that is used to paint a picture as intimate and specific territory. The effort seems deliberately slow and contemplative go in all directions (to the beach, school, zoo, in an amusement park), before his speech becomes fully coherent. The bombings have left their physical, psychological and social factors, especially in some of these young people dream of becoming martyrs.
Generally trusted by the evocative power of its images (there are one or two false notes about where is heavier), “Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)” is an alternative to all those films that always seek to simplify issues. No longer are the concepts and theories that are important, but in what ways can meet man and woman in the world in the field. Enlightening and different, as is usually the documentary who dare to take risks.
