Written in 1978, Michel Khleifi's Fertile Memory is the first feature film to be shot by a Palestinian director in the West Bank. Neither documentary nor fiction, this powerful project recounts the lives of two very different women: Farah Hatoum, a widow living with her children and grandchildren, and Sahar Khalifeh, a novelist from the West Bank. "We can only reach the truth by denouncing the logic and the systems that transform us into potential tormentors and victims. That is how I decided to make a film for - and not about - the women of Palestine, and through them, a film for Palestine." (Michel Khleifi)
In his debut Fertile Memory, Michel Khleifi focuses on two Palestinian women. Farah Hatoum is a widow from Nazareth who lost her land and has to retrain as a factory worker to survive. Sahar Khalifeh is a writer (Wild Thorns) from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Through their lives, Khleifi outlines how the conflict between Israel and Palestinians affects the lives of ordinary citizens. In doing so, he feels no need to impose his truth on the viewer, but lets the viewer draw his own conclusion. He does so by contrasting the words and ideas of the two protagonists. Fertile Memory is a documentary in which Khleifi attempts to "blur the lines between reality and fiction, document and narrative. Isn't Palestine - despite its reality - the essence of a mythical land?"
Combi-ticket 'A Tribute to Michel Khleifi'
On 10 October you get to spend the whole day with (films by) Michel Khleifi. Buy your combi-ticket for Fertile Memory, La battaglia di Algeri (Khleifi's choice), his Director's Talk (including a screening of the short Ma'loul fête sa destruction), and Noce en Galilée.
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Credits
Michel Khleifi
Jacqueline Rosenfeld, Janos Gillis
Farah Hatoum, Sahar Khalifeh
Michel Khleifi
Marc-André Batigne, Yves van der Meer
Moufida Tlatli, Sabah Castelli
Michel Khleifi
Marisa Films
More info
Arabic
Belgium, The Netherlands, Palestine, West Germany
1981
