Keep Shooting

Life for Palestinians in and around the territories which Israel occupies, is no picnic. But if you want to shoot a feature film, without official permission, in locations like Jerusalem and Ramallah, you have to possess a large dose of optimism and perseverance. Director Rachid Masawari, assisted by a Palestinian-Israeli crew, is not daunted by any roadblock, bomb attack or setback in making this film about Palestinian-Israeli relations. KEEP SHOOTING is more than just ‘a making of’ film of a feature film. Every scene is superseded by reality. Masawari complains that he does not know what is tougher, ‘the film we’re doing or the film we’re living’. The bizarre blending of fiction and reality is visualised in split-screen images, simultaneously showing images shot by the feature film camera and the documentary camera. The director also makes clever use of reality, when his leading character, by virtue of her ‘normal’ human life and as an actress, attends the real funeral of a victim of Israeli military violence.