12/02/2003 - The new ensemble film by Monicelli & Co is screened: 120 hours of footage to show that Israelis & Palestians can live together

It may not have an Italian distributor yet, but as far as the foreign sales are concerned, Letters from Palestine could not have a stronger supporter than Adriana Chiesa. Palestine was the latest stop for the militant filmmakers of the Cinema of the Present Foundation, which is coordinated by Francesco Maselli and producer Mauro Berardi. The film was made over a ten-day period last June in Israel. Eleven directors, nine crews, a laborious editing process to cut the 120 hours of footage to just 60 minutes by Mario Monicelli - who also came up with the title – with Wilma Labate and Carlo Valerio.

Screened at the Forum at the Berlin Film Festival, Letters from Palestine was much discussed, as was the film that preceded it, Local Angel by Israeli director Udi Aloni. There is plenty of footage that is proof positive of many Israelis’ anti-war stance. A sequence of the film was shot in the Negev desert where we see a group of pacifists from Jerusalem who bring food and clothing to jailed Palestinians.

“More than anything else, we were shocked by the energy of the Palestinians. They live their lives – they study, fall in love, go to work – despite the continuous psychological pressure they are subjected to and the continuous presence of soldiers and checkpoints everywhere.”
The decision of the filmmakers who boarded this project, and they include Ettore Scola, was to take a glimpse at the private lives and love stories that are reminiscent of that between Romeo and Juliet. The decision to leave out any reference to current news was intentional.
Next stop for our intrepid filmmakers is Bagdad by Mario Balsamo and Stefano Scialotti.