Bereaved Israelis and Palestinians advocate peace in festival film

At this late date, it seems unlikely that a documentary can alter most people's deeply held attitudes regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whatever they may be.

Then along comes "Encounter Point," a portrait so unexpected and wrenching that it cuts right through the viewer's armor of certainty and prejudice.

The film follows half a dozen Israelis and Palestinians whose child or sibling was killed by someone on the other side — a suicide bomber, sniper or soldier — and who have chosen to campaign for nonviolence and peace instead of revenge.

Be assured that "Encounter Point" is not another prissy feel-good movie about how we're all brothers under the skin and coexistence is natural and inevitable. Filmmakers Ronit Avni and Julia Bacha spent 18 months shooting in Israel and the territories and they're crystal clear that, in the current climate, advocates of dialogue and restraint provoke more incredulity than serious discussion.

"Encounter Point" is one of two Israeli-themed documentaries screening in the San Francisco International Film Festival. Co-director Ronit Avni, whose mother lives in Oakland, will be present for the screenings.

The primary Israeli we get to know is Robi Damelin, a tall South African with cropped hair whose son was shot to death by a sniper while he guarded a settlement. Damelin's pain is palpable, which only makes her more resolute that other parents not have to endure suffering.

Ali Abu Awaad has an even tougher road advocating nonviolence to frustrated young Palestinians. His brother was killed by a soldier, and he was shot in the legs by a settler and spent four years in an Israeli prison — all of which give him status among his people and plenty of listeners if he chose to spout hatred.

Instead he espouses the beliefs and strategies of Gandhi and Mandela, arguing that violence has not and will never lead to a Palestinian state. He reaches people one at a time, or in small groups.

"A just cause like ours is now being called terrorism," Abu Awaad explains to a few skeptical Arab men. "We've never been terrorists. But today you must convince the world that you are not."

An open, genial fellow, Abu Awaad has a knack for lightening the tension. "Every Israeli or Palestinian who wants to smoke has to buy cigarettes from the other side," he proposes to Damelin as they sit down for a meeting. "There'd be peace in a day."

If the documentary has a hidden agenda, it is to give voice to ordinary people whom the media generally overlook in their coverage of vociferous prime ministers and bloody acts of violence. Along those lines, Avni has founded a nonprofit, Just Vision, which spotlights the grassroots peace efforts of Israelis and Palestinians.

As former settler Shlomo Zagman puts it as he takes the filmmakers on a drive through the West Bank, "People on the left and the right see it all clearly. Everything's obvious to them. They have slogans, which they write on stickers and place on cars."

He turns his eyes from the road and smiles at the camera. "But if, like me, your position is a full page, how can you make it fit on a sticker? Who will read it?"

Moviegoers hungry for an uplifting documentary along the lines of 2001's "Promises" will have to wait. "Encounter Point" puts us face to face with grief and loss, and refuses to soothe our distress with meaningless platitudes or happy endings.




"Encounter Point" shows 10 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Monday, May 1 and 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 3 at the Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post St., S.F. Tickets: $9-$11, at www.sffs.org or (925) 866-9559.