Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Sept/Oct 2009, Page 42
Music & Arts
Simone Bitton’s “Rachel”
The North American premiere of Simone Bitton’s documentary film “Rachel” at the Tribeca Film Festival in Lower Manhattan, NY on April 28, 30 and May 1, was a distinct success. In an indieWIRE review, Howard Feinstein wrote that “Rachel” was one of the 10 films to see at Tribeca. “The point of departure is the 2003 death of 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer while participating in a nonviolent protest against the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza—material mined differently in the one-woman play, ”˜My Name Is Rachel Corrie.’ Bitton interviews Corrie’s fellow International Solidarity Movement members as well as official spokespeople in order to present varying accounts of the incident, but she makes her own position against the government’s account apparent from the get-go.”
Describing Bitton as “a rarity, a documentarian of strong conviction with a moving, lyrical style,” Feinstein adds: “buzz has it that American distributors are balking at acquiring this masterpiece of a documentary because it dares to find fault with Israeli government policy—even though its Moroccan-born director, Simone Bitton (director of “Wall”), is an Israeli citizen.”
Nancy Schafer, executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival, also praised the film, saying, “With understated cinematic techniques, Bitton captures the spirit of Rachel’s youth, idealism, and political commitment amidst sweeping landscapes of Gaza and a portrait of daily life under ever-present military aggression.”
When the film screened at the largest Jewish festival in the country—the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival—it brought much more controversy. Simone could not attend, and Corrie’s mother, Cindy, was invited for a question-and-answer session. The Israeli Consulate in San Francisco and Consul General Akiva Tor publicly attacked the festival’s decision to bring the film and Cindy to San Francisco—and the festival came under severe attack from the right wing. The Koret and Taube Foundations, two funders of the festival, issued a scathing statement
(see <http://mondoweiss.net/2009/07/rachel-screening-in-san-francisco-shows-a-growing-movement-tired-of-being-censored-about-israel.html>).
As a result, there was a huge crowd at the Castro Theater on a Saturday afternoon, July 25. The theater holds around 1,400 and it reportedly was packed to capacity, with people holding signs out front, and audiences inside supporting Gaza, Rachel, her mother, the film and the festival. The film sold out at the same festival’s screening in Berkeley.
Craig and Cindy Corrie were at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival with the film July 28 to Aug. 2 and again did questions and answers after screenings to two large houses. “Michael is extremely high on the film and so supportive,” Cindy Corrie said.
Simone Bitton has directed more than 15 documentary films, all of them attesting to her deep personal and professional commitment to better representing the complex histories and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa. Her 2004 film “Wall” won a special jury prize at Sundance and the grand prize at the Marseille Festival of Documentary Film.
Bitton told the Seattle Times one reason why audiences are so moved by her film: Corrie’s life and death are important. “I realize that in doing this, Rachel made good to America,” Bitton said. “It was not her intention—her intention was to make good to the Palestinians. But by the very fact that she existed, the Palestinians have a less-monolithic idea of America.”
For information about “Rachel” screenings in your city see updates on the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,’s calendar on our home page, <www.wrmea.org>.
—Delinda C. Hanley
