Still from 5 Broken Cameras
Still from 5 Broken Cameras
 

5 Broken Cameras

by Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat
Inspiring, devastating and exquisite, this doc is part home movie, part resistance journal, part memorial and part impossible collaboration.
2011  ·  1h30m  ·  France, Palestinian Territory
Arabic, Hebrew
About the Film
An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the film was assembled by Burnat and Israeli co-director Guy Davidi. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. “I feel like the camera protects me,” he says, “but it’s an illusion.” Lifelong inhabitant of the central West Bank village of Bil’in, Emad Burnat is a freelance cameraman and photographer with experience filming for Al-Jazeera and Palestinian television. He has contributed to several documentaries, including Bil’in My Love, Palestine Kids, Open Close, and Interrupted Streams. Born in Jaffa, Guy Davidi is a documentary filmmaker and teacher who has been directing, editing, and shooting films since the age of 16. His short documentaries include In Working Progress, Keywords, and Women Defying Barriers; his first feature film, Interrupted Streams, premiered in 2010 at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
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In the Press
Review
Review
Editor
Guy Davidi and Véronique Lagoarde-Ségot
Cinematographer
Emad Burnat
Producer
Emad Burnat, Christine Camdessus, Guy Davidi and Serge Gordey
Sound Editor
Amélie Canini
Production Company
Alegria Productions
Soundtrack Composer
Adnan Joubran, Wissam Joubran, Samir Joubran and Ofer Peled
Writer
Guy Davidi
Film Related
About the Director

Emad Burnat

Emad Burnat is a Palestinian farmer and freelance cameraman and photographer. He has contributed to several documentaries, including Bil’in My Love, Palestine Kids, Open Close, and Interrupted Streams. Emad is also the co-producer, co-director, narrator, cinematographer and director of the first-ever Palestinian film to be nominated for best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The critically-acclaimed 5 BROKEN CAMERAS is a deeply personal, first-hand account of life and non-violent resistance in Bil’in, aWest Bank village surrounded by Israeli settlements.

 

Guy Davidi

Born in Jaffa, acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi, has been making films since a young age. After evading the Israeli army Davidi started to make films focusing on highly charged political issues with a deeply emotional tone and an innovative approach. His most known film 5 Broken Cameras, co-directed with Palestinian Emad Burnat, was nominated to the Oscar in 2012 and won an Emmy for Best Documentary in 2013. The film has since been considered as an astounding achievement of the Palestinian-Israeli peace movement. His new film Innocence, based on 10 years of research, is an epic portrait of his own disturbed country.

 

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