In 1920, the British were granted control over the former Ottoman territory of Palestine. In 1936, the British began relocating sections of the population in this ‘Mandate territory’ to make way for Jewish, Zionist settlers fleeing Europe. This sparked outrage amongst the local residents. Take the gentle Yusuf, for example, who travels back and forth every day between his home village and the city where he works, and so has to pass through checkpoints time and time again. Or Khalid, a simple labourer who has become a revolutionary, and Khouloud, a journalist from a well-to-do background who follows and documents everything closely. As the British crack down, resistance grows; armed conflict is inevitable.
In this epic film, interspersed with archive footage, Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir seeks to make clear that the current situation in the Middle East has a long history. Long before the Second World War, the seeds were sown for the conflict that is now blighting the lives of all Palestinians. Remarkably, Jacir shot the film (under difficult circumstances) in the Palestinian territories.