THE LOUD SILENCE
This is the title of a new half hour documentary that had its premiere on 4th December as part of the Leeds Palestinian Film festival. The premiere was held at All Hallows church in the Burley area of Leeds and was attended by about 80 people. The film has been made by Juman Quneis, a Palestinian filmmaker from Ramallah in the West Bank, who, until recently, was studying in Leeds.
She recounts that the idea for the film came about when she was just walking through central Leeds on a Tuesday lunchtime and was intrigued to see a Palestinian flag. When she moved closer, she saw that it was a group of women, all dressed in black, with banners saying ceasefire now’ and ‘stop the genocide’. This was the Leeds Women in Black group who hold an hour-long silent vigil every week in Dortmund Square. After talking with some of them, the idea of making a film about the individuals who take part in the vigil took root. She was surprised by the level of knowledge about the Palestinian struggle and that women living so far away and with little, if any, direct connection to the Middle East should commit themselves to doing this on a regular basis. The result is a well-crafted and insightful look at the background to the motivations and thinking of the women who set up this group.
At the start there were often less than a dozen women taking part. Nowadays the numbers have grown to between 30 to 40. Members of the Leeds Diocese Pax Christi often are part of the vigil and one, Carol Burns, is interviewed in the film.
Juman is enthusiastic about showing this film to, in particular, Palestinian women’s groups. She wants people in Gaza and the West Bank to know that there are others across the world who stand in solidarity with them as they suffer the ongoing injustices inflicted on them by successive Israeli Governments.
This film will shortly be available for use as a discussion starter point for any groups who want to explore both what is happening in Israel Palestine and to explore how change happens (what is the point of a silent vigil?).
Details will be available soon.