Salt of this Sea

What happens when a Brooklyn-born woman fulfils her life-long desire to ‘return’ home to Israel to see the land her Palestinian ancestors were ejected from 60 years ago? What happens when she meets a young Palestinian boy whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave Palestine forever? What happens when they — tired and angry of the constraints that dictate their lives — take things into their own hands to grab their rights, even if it’s by illegal means?

Answering all this and many more questions is film-maker Annamarie Jacir’s Salt Of This Sea. It’s the story of Soraya who discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Determined to reclaim what is hers, she arrives in Israel. However, she faces her first stumbling block at the passport-control booth at Ben-Gurion airport when the authorities discover that her family hailed from Jaffa before 1948. She is interrogated and strip-searched at customs.

She encounters her next hurdle after arriving in Ramallah. Here, at the bank she’s told all Palestinian deposits before the formation of Israel had been wiped clean. Despite trying her best she fails to recover her grandfather’s money. She is also informed that she can’t apply for a Palestinian passport.

Determined to stick back, she finds a job at a restaurant. Here, she meets a young Palestinian waiter Emad. Despite a scholarship awaiting him in Canada, can't get a visa out.

Frustrated and bitter, Soraya decides to take things in her own hands. She, along with Emad and his film-maker friend Marwan, robs the bank to get back what she feels is hers. Running from the law, the trio escapes into Israel. Here, Soraya and Emad visit their ancestral homes.

Some fine moments in the film include the scene where Emad locates the ruins of his family village. Standing amidst a half-standing structure, Soraya and Emad become aware of their intimacy. The moment filled with long gazes and gentle gestures lingers in memory long after the film is over.

Moreover, the scenes at the start — black and white news footage from 1948 of Israeli tanks pulling down houses, panicked refugees running helter-skelter — are also noteworthy. Even the camerawork is brilliant at times, especially the scenes that capture the open spaces and shattered rubble as Soraya travels throughout Jaffa, Ramallah and Jerusalem.

The movie premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Since then it has toured numerous festivals and earned awards and acclaim. Overall, it’s the sort of movie which is both informative and thought-provoking. Soraya’s fury, Emad’s despair and moments like a brief glimpse of a baby being passed over a barbed wire border fence from father to mother make it one of the better Palestinian productions in recent times.