200 Meters

SFJFF41 BEST OF THE FEST

There are 200 meters that separate Mustafa’s West Bank home near the city of Tulkarem and the apartment that his wife and three children share on the Israeli side of the border wall. Each night he says good night to his family by signaling his love across the divide with a flashlight. Mustafa has the option to apply for an Israeli ID which would allow him to travel freely, but protests on the grounds that it legitimizes an unfair policy. Relying on his work permit, Mustafa is content to travel to his construction job across the wall, even though it puts additional strain on his wife already doing the the bulk of the parenting while working two jobs. Things quickly change, however, when Mustafa gets a call that his son has been injured in an accident. Racing to the Israeli checkpoint, he is denied entry on a technicality. Panic stricken but undeterred, Mustafa contracts a smuggler to bypass the heavily policed checkpoints, an expensive and dangerous undertaking. Joined on his journey by a naive young man seeking work, a Palestinian man on his way to a cousin's wedding and his German filmmaker girlfriend, they must make the perilous journey alone when abandoned by the smugglers. This taut and restrained narrative film is a must see.