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HBO: How did you come to make this very intense,
emotional movie?
Hilla Medalia: Growing up in Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is something you live and breathe
every day. I was looking for a personal story
that would be easy for an audience to identify
with, and at the same time would serve as a
microcosm for the conflict.
When the bombing happened in Jerusalem, I
was still a student, and I read the news, and I
was like, wow, that could be a fascinating
story. And then I thought I could tell the
personal story of the girls, and the mothers.
As I got closer to both mothers, it became
Abigail's journey to meet the mother of Ayat,
the Palestinian suicide bomber. Then it
became clear to me that the film needed to
have a meeting of the mothers.
HBO: Tell us a bit more about that meeting.
Hilla Medalia: First of all it was very, very difficult to
arrange. The families of the two girls live less
than four miles away from one another. Yet
it's such a completely different world. It was
physically hard to even have the meeting.
Once I had convinced the Palestinian family to
go to Israel, the Israeli government wouldn't
give me the permits.
The meeting in the film ended up happening
through videoconference, which I think
reflects the reality of the situation. These two
were geographically so close, yet it was
impossible to get them to meet in person. And
that really symbolizes the reality; that you're
so close, yet you cannot physically touch one
other.
The meeting itself was filled with many
emotions. The mothers' sat in front of each
other for four hours. And despite the back
and forth that was, at times, very harsh
between them, neither wanted to leave the
discussion without a resolution.
HBO: What did you learn from the experience of
making the film?
Hilla Medalia: I learned a lot about Palestinian culture, and
about their way of living. And seeing for the
first time what life was like in a refugee camp.
That was a big experience. From the Israeli
side, I think spending so much time with the
Israeli mother, and getting really close to her
really affected me. Both mothers were
mourning the loss of their daughters, which is
an extremely painful thing most of us can't
even imagine.
I think the Palestinian parents are torn on
one hand feeling sorry and missing their
daughter. But on the other hand, there's a
certain pride that she actually took action to
try to help her people. So it's something to
hang on to.
HBO: What do you hope people will take away from
the film??
Hilla Medalia: My goal for the film is to create a dialogue,
whether it's a dialogue between the Israelis
and Palestinians, or the audience. If I can
create a dialogue, that's my biggest goal. I
think that for the mother, Avigail, there are a
few reasons why she went on this journey
with me. One of them is she wants people to
remember her daughter. So I believe that this
is actually going to help, because more people
will learn about her, and about her daughter
Rachel.
And I think on another level, Avigail was going
on a personal journey to try to know and
understand more about what happened, and
how it happened, and how we can hopefully
stop it.
And the Palestinian mother, I think she came
to this journey with different expectations and
for different reasons. I think that she is also
mourning her daughter. But on the other
hand, she wanted to also defend her cause,
and to explain that there was actually a
reason behind what she was doing, and it's
not terrorism. They consider their daughter a
freedom fighter, or someone who really fights
for her rights.
Each came to the meeting with their own
agenda, and wanting something from the
other person, which they couldn't give. My
hope was that there would be some kind of
reconciliation or understanding between
them. But I also think that it wouldn't be
true to reality, because the Israelis and the
Palestinians are not in agreement. That's the
reality. If you want to experience that, watch
the film. You will not only understand the
conflict better, you will also feel it in your
heart.
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