Visit WhereOliveTreesWeep.com for more information about this film.
Online Premiere, June 6-27, 2024
“Where Olive Trees Weep” offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. Following Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi and others, the film explores the themes of loss, trauma, and quest for justice.
Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of the oppression, we catch a glimpse of the resilience — the deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.
Bearing witness to their harrowing experiences, one cannot help but ask: What makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
About Where Olive Trees Weep
The film gives background to the current crisis in Israel/Palestine and brings to light the lives of people we met on our 2022 journey in the occupied West Bank. Their universally human stories speak of intergenerational pain, trauma and resilience. We hope they touch your heart, stir compassion and understanding, and give rise to a pursuit for justice. For without justice, peace remains an empty slogan.
Cinema can be a powerful force for change. Our aim is, beyond mere education, to truly move hearts and minds and inspire audiences to echo the calls for freedom, equality and dignity that have gone unanswered for far too long.
The film is our modest contribution towards our dream for an end to the occupation in Palestine, the attainment of equal rights and fair treatment for Palestinian people, and the spreading of healing for all intergenerational cycles of trauma in the region.
Directors’ Statement
Where Olive Trees Weep explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice. We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also watch Dr. Gabor Maté support a group of women seeking understanding and healing and offer his insights into intergenerational trauma.
Through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives. This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
