Ajami, the movie

It hits you in the face, Scandar Kopti's and Yaron Sheni's movie "Ajami"' bluntly. It's overpowering.

And yes, this is where i live. It's about "my" neighbourhood.

Of course this is not going to be an objective film review. I know most , no, almost all of the actors, at least by face and some are very good friends. The cast  has been trained, but they are not professional actors, just my neighbours, more or less playing themselves, playing situations they know, reacting naturally as they would have done were the story real. It could have been real.

However, before continuing, honesty demands i admitting being ever so slightly being involved in a very very early production stage of Ajami.

The film opens with a murder scene, a case of mistaken identity, shot in HaDudaim Street. The scene sent me back to some 7 years ago, Saturday afternoon. Enjoying a glass of wine on my balcony overlooking that  street. The street is packed with children, playing outside, enjoying themselves. A motorcycle drives by, on it someone wearing a dark helmet. A few shots ring out, loud, then screams and crying, a young guy lays badly wounded on the street. It all went so fast it took me a few seconds to understand what i had just witnessed. The opening scene takes place at almost the same spot. Only on the other side of the street. In this case the guy survived. They say the murderer was someone from Ramle or Lod, and he didn't know the intended victim well enough and thus mistook him for someone else. Just like in the movie. The similarity is chilling and it doesn't stop with this scene either.

The movie is made out of a few story lines which initially seem not entirely connected, but over time they do, as in real life, as in Ajami.

Many in the audience were from Ajami, so some scenes were funny to us in a way they may not be to others.

I highly recommend, run to your nearest movie theatre.

Jaffa's Ex-Fountain

"Where?" "Ah, next to the fountain where all the drug addicts hang out." "No, it's north of the fountain". "No, no it's just south of the fountain". How often have i explained or received an answer on how to get somewhere along Jaffa's Jerusalem Boulevard.

Jerusalem Boulevard was once known as "Nouzha", named after the lovely mosque of that name, located there.
Nouzha was a fancy shopping street, in pre-1948 Jaffa. Shops, hotels, the main post office, the "AlHambra Theatre (where Oum Kalthoum performed during one of her Jaffa visitsm today's Discount Bank branch) , the municipality and ofcourse the fountain.
As Jerusalem Boulevard is a long tree-lined street, running from south to north, the fountain has always been a kind of reference point: "Is it north or south of the fountain?", people ask, when told to go to an address somewhere along Jerusalem Boulevard. The fountain was once located right in the middle of the boulevard. On old photographs you can see it was opposite the old Jaffa municipality (today's Welfare Department building) . All around the fountain were geranium flowers or roses. In my mind they are red flowers, although i have no way to know that, as all photographs from that time were black & white (the ones I have seen, that is) .
After 1948 the fountain was removed and put somewhere in a municipal warehouse. In the fifties it was returned and placed in front of the Welfare Department ("Sha'ar Yafo), a little to the east of its original location and became a landmark: when giving instructions for a place along Jerusalem boulevard you indicate it's either to the north or the south of the fountain.
The fountain itself was (yes WAS) a simple affair, sinple in the good sense of that word, of simple elegance.
No more.
Yesterday i was shocked to see it destroyed. One more piece of Palestinian Jaffa removed.

There is a lot of construction going on. The Reform Judaism Daniel Center is almost complete. Perhaps the fountain will be returned (a part of its basin was laying, in tact, on the side) but it's won't be the same.
The systematic removal of Palestinian cultural landmarks from Jaffa, the renaming of streets etc all serve one purpose: telling the Israeli narrative,


Update January 2, 2007: It appears they are reconstructing the fountain a little to the east of its previous place. Let's hope so. It's not only pretty, but also an important landmark.

"Ringo & Taher", a Jaffa movie

Joni Arbid's movie "Ringo & Taher" was screened last thursday at Jaffa's "Al Seraya" theatre. The movie, entirely shot in Jaffa, tells the story of a little boy, Taher, who finds a puppy he names Ringo.

Taher tries to raise Ringo against all chances and especially against his father's wishes.

Taher lives a life like many little boys in Jaffa; his family is poor and they have a hard time getting by, putting food on the table. His brother gets pulled into a life of crime, as there appear to be little other options.

Some of the actors are professionals, others are my neighbors, playing more or less themselves, the acting is good.
The soundtrack, composed by Ala Abu Amara, is special and impressive.
The editing is so good, it saves the movie from its weaker point: its photography, which is problematic.

Definitely worth a view.