2 More Films from the JFF

I went to see Hunger with Hanna and her friend Eran, and I had no idea what I was getting into. Hanna had told me something about it, that it was about Ireland and the conflict there, but I hadn't paid attention and I entered the theater with only the name to guide me.

There is almost no speaking in the film, and it seemed that the first words weren't spoken until halfway through. The one real dialogue felt massive, huge not only in its content but in the silence that surrounds it. Gigantic in it's arguments and explanations of the violence and obscenity of the rest of the film. It was the most graphic film I have ever seen. Recounting the Troubles, it showed the Blanket and Dirty protests of the Maze prison. Coming in with only the most naive knowledge of the Troubles, every image and scene were shocking. Refusing to wear the unifroms of soldiers, IRA inmates of the prison chose to only wear their blankets. I learned from brief research later that this choise was not only uncomfortable, but denied the prisoners the ability to see visitors or leave their cells at anytime, as one could only do so in uniform. I also learned that the Dirty protests began in response to inmates being attacked by guards in the washrooms and when emptying their lavatory pots. Not only did the inmates refuse to bathe, but they covered their cell walls in their own feces and spoiled food. As the film showed, the violence shown towards the prisoners was not only the Unionist guards' anger at the larger political situation and the fact that they were guarding IRA terrorists who actively killed people, but also in response to their own fear for their lives. The IRA had an active campaign to kill the prison guards, and this anger and fear and dehumanization was felt in the many scenes of brutality against the naked inmates. Though the film does not clearly follow any one person, the last third of the film solely depicts Bobby Sand's hunger strike, with the actual actor wasting away and covered in terrible bed sores.

My surroundings dictated a great deal of how I reacted to this film. I was formost horrified by the conditions of the prison, and somehow felt a bit betrayed by all things I consider "British." I had forgotten the days of Longshanks, and I had thought somehow the Colonial periods of British history had largely been characterized by a sort of Orientalization of "the natives." I hadn't realized how brutal and hate filled the Troubles had been. My next thought was how in the world have they, both sides, been able to get beyond this and to a relative peace? How does it happen and how can it happen here in Israel? Then I thought about the special role that prisons and the treatment of prisoners play in wartime and conflict; about the impact of the photographs of Abu Ghraib on the situation in Iraq and America's loss of its moral superiority, the Israeli prisoner exchange that has just occured and Gilad Shalit's which is being discussed, about the prisons of South Africa which have been turned into museums with tours led by former inmates.

The last film I saw of the JFF was Be Like Others. The documentarian, Tanaz Eshaghian was apparantly able to make this film without censorship from the Iranian government, and in it she meets with young Iranian men who have either gone through or are considering sex change operations. In Iran homosexuality is considered a sin, the punishment death, however the Islamic government has sanctioned sex-change operations for transsexuals, not homosexuals. And so many men, who have been attacked on the streets by thugs and the police, who are denied jobs, and who are fearful of brining shame upon their families opt for the surgery. One woman in the film who had undergone the surgery and acted as a guide to those who were considering it, counceled parents of the surgical candidates saying in essence that if the government of Iran will allow it, certainly there should be nothing shameful about it. While some of the families embrace their new daughters, most disown their children, and without family support many transsexuals end up as prostitutes or drug addicts, with many suicidal. It was an incredibly sad film, showing people desperate to fit into a society with no place for them. I thought about the Gay Parade I attended at the beginning of the month, and how even though homosexuality is contested issue in Jerusalem there is still the right to be yourself in your own body here. And in NY, a mecca for many people who grow up queer in more conservative parts of the country.