Fatherlands: from Beirut to Jerusalem

A Jewish-Lebanese woman in Beirut hides her identity and takes the risk to visit her family in Jerusalem. Jacqueline (51) is a popular teacher of French and Civics in a Shiite secondary school near the Hezbollah headquarter in Beirut. Everybody there knows about her experience as a pro-Palestinian militia member during the civil war. But only the school's director and a handful of old friends know of her Jewish origins.

The film follows Jacqueline and her husband Sasha on a secret trip to Jerusalem where she wants to visit her older brother Albert (62), whom she has not seen in years. A politically conservative academic at Hebrew University, Albert is still apprehensive towards Jacqueline's gesture of reconciliation after their politically motivated fall-out. On the journey, we learn about the disintegration of this large Jewish-Lebanese family through the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Team Partner

Philippa Kowarsky, producer

Producer / Production Details

Polymorfilms