Salt of This Sea (2008)

Cogent, well written, well acted, and well directed.Filming was excellent. The film moved in the correct tempo with ample economy and control .Story was of an important matter that is often suppressed.Much more poetic than polemic.Strong female lead and direction was not self-righteously or overbearingly so.Creative and multifaceted script.More than adequate character development.Balanced presentation between societal and personal.Nice lighting.

This kind of pro Palestinian film does an injustice to the people of Israel, both Jews and Arabs. A filmmaker that does not show balance but rather a one-sided misinterpretation of facts, framing Israel in a binary of Jews = oppressors; Palestinians = innocents.I note that the director states this film was shot in 'Palestine.' Actually, it was Israel, so even this states an untruth about its location.If you want to see a fair and balanced representation of Israeli Jews and Arabs struggling with the wars and everyday lives, please see 'Bethlehem'; 'Waltz with Bashir'; 'Room 514' just for starters. At least these movies show Jews and Arabs as flawed human beings with both good and bad traits.So, if Palestine exists, please will the direct of Salt Of This Sea kindly answer the following:1) When was Palestine founded and by whom? 2) What were its borders? 3) What was its capital? 4) What were its major cities? 5) What constituted the basis of its economy? 6) What was its form of government? 7) Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat? 8) Was Palestine ever recognised by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation? 9) What was the language of the country of Palestine ? 10) What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ? 11) What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date. 12) And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

This is a film well worth seeing by people who want to know more about the reality of the Palestinian tragedy. Artistically made, with no hysterics about showing daily material sufferings, but instead, the ordinary life of Palestinians which has to somehow go on, with laughter, anger, happiness, pain, love, etc. It also reflected the psychological pain felt by the Palestinians wherever they may be (in USA in this case), showing how a Palestinian-American young lady seeking her roots in a country she had never seen before can in fact have the feeling of "longing" and belonging, not in any way different from the feeling of an adopted child upon meeting her/his real parents. The film is of course about Palestine and Palestinians and not about Israel and Israelis, however, it does not "demonize" anyone! See it for yourself and be the judge!

A friend of ours who is of Palestinian descent invited us to see this movie at Berkeley's California theater and didn't know what to expect. The movie was presented by the Arab Film Festival to a sold out crowd. This movie took us on an eye opening journey of how horribly Palestinians refugees are treated by the settlers. During painful moments in the movie, the audience around me would sigh and groan at what was happening. I thought "It's just a movie" and then realized it is not just a movie. It is what is truly happening now, today! Though I am not Palestinian, I would remember stories my Mother told me about how the Japanese would treat Filipinos during the war. The minimization of an entire culture of people by invaders who believed they had right to her country. I truly recommend every American who has not read or heard of the history of Palistine see this movie. I hope to see more movies about Palistine in hopes we can learn more and understand what is the truth.