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A LOVE DIVIDED
JERUSALEM

1991 52′ Documentary
Channel 4 / WDR
One of a series of 4 documentaries filmed in Belfast, Berlin, Jerusalem and Johannesburg.
Love Divided
Margaret Williams photo

S Y N O P S I S

These films are about love and separation, about couples in love but kept apart by forces beyond their control. The films are also incidentally about cultures and societies divided by those same forces. Each film focuses on one couple and follows their struggle to keep their love alive and stay together in the face of opposition and prejudice from their families and friends, or from the society around them.

Despite the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict and the Intifada which has erupted within the Palestinian community in the last few years, some relationships have survived across the religious and cultural divide between Jews and Muslims. Etti is Jewish, Farouk is an Arab. They first met at a political demonstration against the Israeli oppression of its Arab population and the occupation of the Gaza strip and the West Bank. That was five years ago. They are united by their politics and their love but torn apart by the divided world they live in.

In Israel there is no such thing as a secular marriage. One of the couple must change their religion if they are to marry. The Intifada and the Gulf War have driven a desperate wedge between Arabs and Jews. Etti has been attacked by her neighbours for living with an Arab. Farouk has lost his job and is forced to leave Jerusalem for his family village. Although they still love each other and want children together, can their love survive amid the division of the Middle East?

R E V I E W S

‘The moments when TV brings a personal story home with tear-jerking clarity are so rare that they should be treasured. This is one of them. A desperately sad, beautifully made film’
David Seymour, EToday

C R E D I T S

director
MARGARET WILLIAMS

director of photography
PATRICK DUVAL

editor
JO KINGSLEY

producers
RON ORDERS
MARGARET WILLIAMS
CINECONTACT PRODUCTIONS