{"id":6011,"date":"2010-07-10T02:02:55","date_gmt":"2010-07-10T09:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=6011"},"modified":"2010-07-18T23:32:18","modified_gmt":"2010-07-19T06:32:18","slug":"jerusalem-film-festival-2010-77-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=6011","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem Film Festival 2010: 77 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story of love in the city, and the city is Tel Aviv. Far away from home and family, chasing dreams on the gritty pavements, walking up endless flights of stairs, looking out from dilapidated balconies into the brilliant white Mediterranean sun, surrounded by crowds, looking for a friend, a job, an apartment, creating a life.\u00a0 At night the colors of the city come alive, there\u2019s a party on the roof, the music is right and they meet.<\/p>\n

\u201c77 Steps\u201d by Ibtisam Salh Mara\u2019ana was screened on Friday, July 9th at the 27th Jerusalem Film Festival. In this film, Mara\u2019ana, who was present at the screening<\/a>, documents her experiences moving from the Arab-Muslim village in the north where she grew up, to Tel Aviv. Her story becomes intertwined with that of her Jewish-Canadian neighbor Jonathan, and the love they share.<\/p>\n

All the markers of the Tel Aviv urban scene are present, including Ibtisam\u2019s feelings of \u201calienation and rejection.\u201d Like many other urban migrants, drawn to the action and opportunities of the city, she says, \u201cI want to belong this place.\u201d Yet as a Muslim woman in Israel, what does \u201cbelonging\u201d mean? Does it mean becoming like everyone else around her \u2013 buying a bicycle, walking her dog? Does it mean feeling free to express her own identity and find her own path?<\/p>\n

Every simple act becomes a conscious choice, even answering the simple question: \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d The identity markers of urban culture are universal. Ibtisam looks and sounds like any other young, beautiful professional in jeans\u2026until she says her name.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The relationship between Ibtisam and\u00a0Jonathan follows the trajectory of contemporary urban love: they meet, post cute pictures on facebook, leave the city to go on holiday, where they take some more cute photos, cook dinner in tiny kitchens and march in demonstrations together. There is something courageous and life-affirming about these familiar scenes, because none of it can be taken for granted. This is not just any couple \u2013 it is an Arab-Jewish couple in Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fast-paced, vibrant and full of color as the city in which it takes place, \u201c77 Steps\u201d is a film that explores questions of identity and relationships with intelligence, honesty and sensitivity. Avoiding clich\u00e9s and slogans, Mara\u2019ana does not present a poster couple in the service of a political message. Introspective, honest and funny, the film is not afraid to let each voice be heard along this journey, even when the words are painful for speaker and listener.<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\n77 Steps
\nIbtisam Mara\u2019ana
\nIsrael\/Palestine 2010, 56 minutes, Hebrew\/English\/Arabic with Hebrew\/English subtitles
\nThe film is competing in the Israeli Film Competition \u2013 Documentary Films category of the 27th Jerusalem Film Festival 2010.<\/p>\n

AYELET DEKEL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 It\u2019s a story of love in the city, and the city is Tel Aviv. Far away from home and family, chasing dreams on the gritty pavements, walking up endless flights of stairs, looking out from dilapidated balconies into the brilliant white Mediterranean sun, surrounded by crowds, looking for a friend, a job, an apartment, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-6011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","tag-jerusalem-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}