'Anonymous' & 'Kameen' at the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival

Kameen

There has, in recent months, been a whole wealth of content that has explored the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It’s not very often however, that it’s told from a Palestinian perspective. I had high expectations of the film for this reason, filmed by a Palestinian videographer in Kafr Qaddum in the West Bank. However, I think that the voiceover took away from the power of the images a little. It began by stating the facts but as the film continued, more opinion made it to script. He offered up explanations of what was happening but also represented quite a bias view in explaining why it happened, who was to blame and who the bad guys were. I wanted very much an unbiased witness account for me to decide for myself who the bad guys were. Tell me the facts, let me work out the rest.

I did find the visuals fascinating, particularly as I visited Israel last year and wanted to know more about the Israel/Palestine divide but I would much rather have seen it with the soundtrack turned off. Music was well-chosen and images captured well. But my high hopes for a moral standard bearer, weren't fulfilled. there's still room for someone to come along and claim that one.

Anonymous

Anonymous was an unusual insight into life in a Syrian refugee camp.  Our film-maker, led by a man who knew his way around every inch of the camp and wanted to show the entirety of it to the camera, managed to capture some of the most impoverished and under-provisioned parts of the Domez Camp. For example, there is a clip sharing that there are 4 doctors among the entire of the camp and it's getting worse every day. The worried mothers, the makeshift hospital and check-up room, the pharmacy with handwritten signs to show the entrance and exit. There are kids singing their national anthem. There are men telling us how they have no bathrooms. Then there is the realization that although everyone in the camp recognizes our guide, no-one seems to know his name. Which is almost a statement applicable to the entire camp. The anonymous, those that everyone seems to have forgotten about, who everyday grow in number.

Was a really great insight and one of the best short films at the IWM festival. I only wish that the film was longer.