Where Should the Birds Fly?

Jun 21, 2013

1h 4m

★ 7.0

"Where should we go after the last frontiers? Where should the birds fly after the last sky?" –Mahmoud Darwish

Overview

The film tells the compelling and moving stories of two remarkable young women living in Gaza and the struggle of Gazans trying to maintain their humanity and humor while hoping to find some sense of normality in a world that is anything but normal.

Genres

Documentary

Where Should the Birds Fly? Trailers

Cast

Self

Fida Qishta

Self

Mona Samouni

Documentarians Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg traveled to Israel to interview Palestinian and Israeli kids ages 11 to 13, assembling their views on living in a society afflicted with violence, separatism and religious and political extremism. This 2002 Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary culminates in an astonishing day in which two Israeli children meet Palestinian youngsters at a refugee camp.

0.0

The Other War

May 2, 2024

Isobel Yeung and a team of BBC Investigative journalists navigate gun battles, combat raids and secretive meetings as they conduct an investigation deep inside the occupied West Bank. What they find raises serious questions about the conduct of the Israeli Military and uncovers a dangerous situation that is on the brink of exploding.

1.0

Aida Returns

Jul 2, 2024

A poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.

0.0

Stitching Palestine

Mar 28, 2017

Twelve Palestinian women sit before us and talk of their life before the Diaspora, of their memories, of their lives and of their identity. Their narratives are connected by the enduring thread of the ancient art of embroidery. Twelve resilient, determined and articulate women from disparate walks of life: lawyers, artists, housewives, activists, architects, and politicians stitch together the story of their homeland, of their dispossession, and of their unwavering determination that justice will prevail. Through their stories, the individual weaves into the collective, yet remaining distinctly personal. Twelve women, twelve life-spans, and stories from Palestine; a land whose position was fixed on the map of the world, but is now embroidered on its face.

0.0

Promises & Betrayals: Britain and the Struggle for the Holy Land

Nov 21, 2002

A documentary on how British double-dealing during the First World War ignited the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. The bitter struggle between Arab and Jew for control of the Holy Land has caused untold suffering in the Middle East for generations. It is often claimed that the crisis originated with Jewish emigration to Palestine and the foundation of the state of Israel. Yet the roots of the conflict are to be found much earlier – in British double-dealing during the First World War. This is a story of intrigue among rival empires; of misguided strategies; and of how conflicting promises to Arab and Jew created a legacy of bloodshed which determined the fate of the Middle East.

8.6

A Song Called Hate

Jun 17, 2021

The pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, BDSM-provocative, techno-punk performance art ensemble Hatari unsurprisingly drew attention to themselves with their performance at the Icelandic qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest. So much so that they won and therefore were allowed to perform at the main event in Tel Aviv. But what now? Should they boycott the event, swallow their idealism, or use their airtime to criticise the host country for their illegal occupation of Palestine? The Icelandic director Anna Hildur joins the boys in the band all the way to the fateful final.

5.0

The Men Behind the Wall

Feb 18, 2018

Tinder. Woman looking for a man, man looking for a woman. It could have been so simple if she wasn't Israeli and the "man nearby" wasn't behind the wall, in the East Bank of the Jordan River. Israeli filmmaker Ines Moldavski meets Palestinian men she met on the Internet to get them to talk about their need for love and desire to possess.

7.7

Waltz with Bashir

Jun 12, 2008

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

7.8

Screams Before Silence

Apr 25, 2024

Unpublished testimonies from freed hostages, survivors, and members of first responders regarding the attacks perpetrated on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, by the terrorist gang Hamas reveal the repugnant extent of the crimes committed by the so-called Palestinian freedom fighters.

7.5

Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority

Mar 25, 2006

A thought-provoking documentary on the current and historical causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. political involvement.

7.4

Control Room

Jan 15, 2004

A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.

8.0

HALEMEH

Feb 1, 2003

In the Gaza refugee camp of Jerash, Palestinians face the critical issue of lacking identification documents. This situation undermines their rights and hinders access to essential services and opportunities.

10.0

Bil'in Habibti

Jan 1, 2006

The Israeli filmmaker Shai Corneli Polak records the building of the 'security wall' through Palestinian territory at the village of Bil'in. The villagers protest mostly peacefully, while the Israeli army doesn't react peacefully. By now the Israeli High Court has ruled that the building of the wall was illegal.

9.5

Gaza: Doctors Under Attack

Jun 6, 2025

A forensic investigation into the impact of Israeli military operations on Gaza’s healthcare system. This urgent documentary examines evidence of widespread destruction across the territory’s medical infrastructure, where all 36 main hospitals have reportedly been damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of healthcare workers — including doctors and surgeons — are known to have been killed, injured or detained, with some alleging imprisonment and mistreatment

7.8

The Oslo Diaries

Jan 21, 2018

A group of Israelis and Palestinians come together in Oslo for unsanctioned peace talks during the 1990s in order to bring peace to the Middle East.

7.4

War Photographer

Nov 1, 2001

Documentary about war photographer James Nachtwey, considered by many the greatest war photographer ever.

6.8

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Aug 22, 2025

An Iranian filmmaker participates in a series of video calls with a young Palestinian photojournalist who describes her life confined in Gaza during the current regional conflict.

8.6

Louis Theroux: The Settlers

Apr 27, 2025

14 years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.

6.2

Kafr Kassem

Jan 2, 1974

On the eve of the Israeli attack on Egypt in 1956, Israel declares martial law in all the occupied Arab territories without any previous notice. When the villagers of Kafr Kassem returned home from the fields, they were butchered and killed in what is known today as the massacre of “Kafr Kassem”.

7.0

The Good Soldier

Jul 3, 2021

A look inside the work of Breaking the Silence, an organization of former IDF combat soldiers who collect and publish testimonies of soldiers who served in the occupied territories. For six months, director Silvina Landsmann, camera in hand, accompanied the staff of the organization. The many hours of footage have been refined into a film that dives into the heart of Breaking the Silence’s work: guided tours of Hebron and the surrounding area, public lectures and house meetings, internal staff meetings and media strategy. All the while the organization is forced to justify its very existence, both internally and to the broader public, and to justify its place in the political debate. The Good Soldier raises questions about Israel’s dynamic mainstream and the challenges of confronting it.

Where Should the Birds Fly?

Overview

Genres

Where Should the Birds Fly? Trailers