Frontiers of Dreams and Fears

Hey Bloggers!

Welcome back to Chebbi Unscripted, where we break down contemporary Arab movies and how they portray real-world issues through the Arab lens. Today, we’re going to be talking about the documentary Frontiers of Dreams and Fears. Filmed in 2001 by Mai Masri, the documentary explores a friendship between two Palestinian children, Manar and Mona, as they grow up in refugee camps in Lebanon and Palestine

The movie centers around the friendship growing between the two, but the overarching topic in the film is that of the refugee crisis in the contested Palestine/Israel area. Both girls in the movie grow up in refugee camps as a result of being displaced from the Israel-Palestine and greater Middle East conflict, Manar in the West Bank, and Mona in Lebanon. In the film, the refugee crisis is not shown through the lens of the war, however, but through the lens of a resilient population maintaining their cultural and social identity through various avenues, including reminiscing on family history, singing cultural songs reaffirming their identity, and visiting their homeland in some situations as well.

While the movie was made in 2001, the film has critical contemporary ties. As of October 7th, 2023, the region has reemerged as a conflict zone – since that date, violence has resumed between the countries, with the latest estimates estimating about 40,000 Palestinian civilians dead from fighting in the last year. Fighting in Gaza has forced millions of Palestinians to find refuge in refugee camps like Khan Younis and Nuseirat, but further fighting has forced them deeper and deeper into other refugee camps as previously inhabited ones are destroyed. An estimated 1.8 million Gazans have been displaced as a result of the war, and Lebanese civilians are now facing the same plight. Lebanon is now the target of an Israeli offensive against the Lebanese army, Hezbollah, and its invasion into the South of Lebanon has forced 1 million civilians into refuge deeper into Lebanon.

While these trends may have unfolded in the past 11 months, this region's story is all too familiar. The first recorded instances of this conflict date back to 1948, when the United Nations created the State of Israel in response to the Holocaust, which left millions of Jewish people dead in Europe. The subsequent displacement of Palestinians living in the newly designated land was called the Nakba, forcing thousands out of their homes and resulting in many civilian deaths. In the Resolution that was passed, the Palestinian Right to Return was also outlined, an agreement which stated that Palestinians “wishing to return…should be permitted to do so” and compensation be provided to those who lost their assets during the Nakba (Andersen, 2016).

This clause highlights the infinity of the Palestinian refugee crisis, a crisis which emerged in 1948, was still very much prevalent in 2001 at the time of shooting this film, and has blown up in the past eleven months since the escalation of conflict (Cleland, 1961).

The film does a beautiful job of highlighting the importance of maintaining the cultural heritage of the refugee population. Through letters, both children retain their cultural identity; when the documentary zooms out to examine the entire refugee population, those children are seen singing songs of Palestinian statehood and identity through border fences. While friendship amidst adversity was the main showing point, the film could not exist without the struggle of Palestinian statehood. Without the plight of the Palestinian people, the resilience shown in the video would not nearly be as strong as it was. The film does a beautiful job highlighting the issues relating to maintaining Palestinian statehood and cultural identity. Regardless of identity revolving around cultural, political, or otherwise, staying true to oneself and one’s community is of utmost importance. Frontiers of Dreams and Fears makes sure that it resonates with the audience through an hour and thirty minutes of heartfelt, striking commentary.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. Did you watch the movie? How did it make you feel? What are your thoughts on Palestinian statehood and the maintenance of a cultural identity in spite of hardship? We’d love to know.

Until next time, we’ll see you on Chebbi Unscripted!

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