Mourning in Lod

In the early morning hours of May 10, 2021, Moussa Hassouna, a Palestinian citizen of Israel was shot and killed by a Jewish settler in Lod, a city 30 miles west of Jerusalem, and one of five Arab and Jewish “mixed” cities. Deemed a martyr, riots break out across the city in Hassouna’s name. These riots turn deadly when, driving home, a rock is hurled through Yigal Yehoshua’s passenger window, striking him in the head. Several hours later he died, but not before his family agreed to donate his organs. Randa, a Christian Arab woman, receives Yigal’s kidney and is compelled to pay her respects to the Jewish man who has given her a second chance at life. She is determined to attend his 30-day shloshim (period of mourning), despite being afraid for her and her family’s safety after reading several racist epiphets posted online. Mourning in Lod is an emotionally stirring account of the fates of three people, their families and a country interconnected by cycles of violence, providing a first-hand account at the way our individual actions reverberate, amplify and shape the course of each other’s lives.

Bay Area Premiere

Hilla Medalia is an Israeli director & producer and the founder of the award-winning Medalia Productions company, whose films have been commissioned by HBO, Arte, and BBC and screened at Cannes, Berlinale, and Sundance. Hilla has won a Peabody Award and received four Emmy® nominations. Her projects have garnered critical acclaim and screened internationally; Among them: ‘Transkids’ 2019 (a 5 episode series for yesDocu and film), ‘ Leftover Women’ 2019 (Tribeca, ARTE), ‘The Oslo Diaries’ 2018 (Sundance, HBO, ARTE), ‘Muhi’ 2017 (IDFA, HotDocs), ‘Censored Voices’, 2015 (Sundance, Berlinale), ‘The Go Go Boys’ 2014 (Cannes), ‘Web Junkie’ 2014 (Sundance, POV, BBC), ‘Dancing in Jaffa’ 2013 (Tribeca, IFC) and more. Hilla holds an M.A. in cinema from Southern Illinois University.