Wall
The hypnotic documentaryWall--subtitled "a cinematic meditation on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"--immerses viewers in the rhythms of life around the wall being built by the Israeli government to section off the Palestinian regions of Israel. Much of the movie is simply long pans of the wall itself, which is made of concrete barriers in some places (where the government feels there is a higher risk of gunfire) and a fence topped with razor wire in others, while the filmmakers hold off-screen conversations with children, Israelis, and the Palestinians who have been hired to build the wall. Periodically the movie returns to a brusk interview with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, who defends the wall and shrugs off concerns about the damage the wall--which may end up being over 500 kilometers long--is doing to the natural environment as well as the political one. "This fence blocks the artery that feeds the Israeli heart," says one dismayed Israeli in an eloquent interview. But documentarian Simone Bitton refrains from metaphor; the considerable impact ofWallarises from her simple and matter-of-fact approach, ranging from scenes of teenage soldiers refusing entry to a woman hanging her clothes with the fence in the background.--Bret Fetzer