Wadi-Grand Canyon 2001

Amos GITAI first documented life in Wadi Rushmia, a region on the outskirts of Haifa, twenty years ago. The three interlocking films depicting a group of Arabs and Israelis who nurture a fragile culture of coexistence over a span of twenty years, we see the pain of displaced Romanian Jews, and of Palestinians forced to live in shambles. But we also see friendships and even love affairs across the social boundaries, as all these people strive in one way or another to establish roots within a constantly changing landscape. Over the years, many groups have settled in Wadi Rushmia: Palestinians expelled from their homes and new Jewish immigrants from North Africa, Ethiopia, Easteern Europe, and Russia. The layers of people, geography, history, and economics that overlap and transform one another over time are a microcosm for Haifa, indeed for all Israel.