Miley Locke and Johnny Harris in A House in Jerusalem Eerie twists and turns and the hidden histories of Palestinians are seen through the eyes of an Israeli British girl in the new film A House in Jerusalem. Palestinian director Muayad Alayan does not aim to portray the atrocious brutality of the everyday experience of Palestinians that we witness every day on social media. Instead, his message is conveyed through the metaphors about silencing that interlace the film and remind us of the occupation in the West Bank.
The film starts with Rebecca moving to occupied Jerusalem with her father after her mother’s shocking death. The audience is constantly reminded of the occupation. You see it in the padlocked well in the garden, the Israeli police who monitor Rebecca’s phone, a father who refuses to give space to his daughter’s overwhelming grief and the history of a house erased after the Nakba of 1948.
Rebecca begins to see the ghost of Rasha, a young Palestinian girl. But she is the only one who can see Rasha. Haunting It is another haunting reminder of Israel’s indoctrination and propaganda that threatens to silence Palestinian history.
In an interview Alayan admits the personal aspect of this film. It is clear from the scenes that weave Rebecca’s discovery of Jerusalem, the checkpoints, Bethlehem’s surveilled opposing wall, the maze of Aida refugee camp and the destroyed villages of Lifta and Imwas. Within the enchanting friendship between Rebecca and Rasha, we w.
