More than 60 babies were killed during the last intifada in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority territories. “My daughter was born on the day the intifada set off, when she turned 6 months, an Israeli baby was shot in the head; a month later, a Palestinian baby was shot. This for me was quite intolerable.” (Director Adi Arbel) Israeli and Palestinian Mothers talk about the essence of motherhood that had taken a fatal blow, and the unbearable lightness of killing of children in the region. Intimate confessions turn into one conversation about motherhood, bereavement, new pregnancies. Hebrew, Arabic and heart-beats join together into one voice, full of hope of mothers - the hope from which new babies are born.
More than 60 babies were killed during the last intifada in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority territories. “My daughter was born on the day the intifada set off, when she turned 6 months, an Israeli baby was shot in the head; a month later, a Palestinian baby was shot. This for me was quite intolerable.” (Director Adi Arbel) Israeli and Palestinian Mothers talk about the essence of motherhood that had taken a fatal blow, and the unbearable lightness of killing of children in the region. Intimate confessions turn into one conversation about motherhood, bereavement, new pregnancies. Hebrew, Arabic and heart-beats join together into one...
"In a country where most people try to avoid facing reality, ‘Lullaby’ is a rare effort to do just that. Eleven women who lost their children in the current armed conflict tell their stories in this must-see documentary.”
Haaretz Magazine, April, 2004
“ A powerful Documentary on a crucial issue, combining intimate monologues in Arabic and Hebrew. The grand themes of motherhood told through the
personal stories.”
Corriera de la sierra, April, 2004
“A small step toward peace in this compelling film that catches the inner pain of Palestinian and Israeli mothers.”
Yediot Achronot, April, 2004
“11 women, Palestinian and Israeli tell their stories with all the everyday details, the heart beatings, and the silences: with all the pain. In the course of the film their tales merge together and on the end it becomes one voice: the tale of the mother.”
Trouw, April, 2004
"Lullaby" (in Hebrew "Shir Eres"; in Arabic, "Tahalili"), which was screened this week at the DocAviv Documentary Film Festival is a film without an iota of consolation. Fifty minutes without even a moment of relief. Seven Israeli women and four Palestinian women who lost children aged five
or younger, victims of the intifada, deliver monologues that break down into details of the everyday words that in the past
three years have become a cliche - death and bereavement.
Aviv Lavie, Haaretz Magazine, April, 2004
Seven Israeli women and four Palestinian women who lost children aged five or younger, victims of the intifada, deliver monologues that
break down into details of the everyday words that in the past three years have become a cliche - death and bereavement. No mechanisms of distancing or epression will be able to establish a defensive shield in the face of the pain that emanates from the screen. Nor do the end credits provide a haven. After all,
the reality outside the theater is the reality that has just been screened, and the viewers know that it's only chance that made these wretched mothers participants in the film, and them the lucky ones who eluded that fate and are now watching it.
Aviv Lavie, Haaretz Magazine, April, 2004