Emily Caccam: Culture Portfolio

Culture Entry #2: Five Broken Cameras

Emily Caccam

While sifting through the Netflix documentary section, I came across Five Broken Cameras, a 2012 documentary film that shows the first-hand accounts of Palestinian resistance movements from the perspective Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer living in the West Bank village of Bil’in.

Burnat bought his first camera in 2005 originally for family videos. However, that same year, Israeli settlements began spreading onto Bil’in farmland, extending beyond the borders established in the 1967 Peace Agreement with Egypt. When Bil’in villagers responded with non-violent protests, Burnat began documenting the evolution of the movement. Over the course of about five years, Burnat cycles through five cameras, each of which is broken in conflict during the protests (and thus inspiring the title behind the film title). Structured around the first five years of Burnat’s youngest son, Gibreel, the film highlights how integral violence and conflict is in these bordering villages.

One of the most memorable parts of the film was when Gibreel says some of his first words: wall, cartridge, and army. While I was excited when I recognized the term “al-jeysh”, I was also saddened that this precious little child’s first memories of the world were those of war.

I was also fascinated to learn that the co-director of the film is Guy Davidi, an Israeli filmmaker. In fact, Davidi wrote the script for Burnat’s narration and did the majority of the editing. I was surprised to see that an Israeli was so vocal about a very anti-Israeli issue. This fact highlights that many different cultures – not just Palestinians – want Israel to return to the 1967 boundaries.

Overall, I found the film to be extremely interesting and well executed. It is definitely a personal favorite and I suggest that anyone interested in the Israeli-Palestine conflict to watch it. While it is obviously a one-sided film considering that it is made by a Palestinian protester, it offers a unique perspective to an important international issue that too many people are uniformed about. I suggest that people interested in learning more about the conflict should watch this film and a pro-Israel film shortly after to get a well-rounded understanding.