The Law in These Parts

Join us at 1:30pm for a Skype interview with Director Ra'anan Alexandrowicz at the Congregation Sha'ar Zahav event following the screening!

Inventive Israeli filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (Inner Tour, SFJFF 2001; James’ Journey to Jerusalem, 2004) conducts a postmodern investigation into the legal system that has governed Palestinians in the West Bank since the 1967 war. Interviewing the judges and lawyers entrusted with interpreting the law, the filmmaker raises the core issue: Can a modern democracy impose a prolonged military occupation on another people while retaining its core democratic values? The finer points of military law that govern the West Bank are discussed with the very people who shaped it. Behind them are projected archival and newsreel footage of the post-1967 era with General Moshe Dayan at a beach in Gaza, then General Ariel Sharon in the West Bank, religious settlers reclaiming what they believe is their Biblical heritage and the arrests and trials of Palestinians. Commanding and compassionate, the fi lm is a self-reflective analysis of a unique legal system that few people really understand. Developed over time, it is the orders, opinions and rulings that tell the story of the law. The fi lm is precisely argued, disciplined and dramatic as it considers the repercussions of this complex and unusual legal framework. Much deserved winner of both Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury and Jerusalem Film Festival Prizes. —Janis Plotkin

Can't make this screening? The Law in These Parts plays again at the Roda Theatre on Saturday, July 28th!