The film gives background to the current crisis in Israel/Palestine and brings to light the lives of people producers met on a 2022 journey in the occupied West Bank. Their universally human stories speak of intergenerational pain, trauma and resilience. 

The film is a modest contribution towards the 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.

Improper Walls

Where Olive Trees Weep

Maral Quttieneh

Zaya Benazzo

Maurizio Benazzo

Ashira Darwish

Finley MacNeil

Caroline Campbell

Nickoloz Kachibaia

Yasen Stoev

Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It 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 witness Dr. Gabor Maté offering trauma-healing work for a group of women who have been tortured in Israeli prisons. 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 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?

Documentary

Improper Walls is a multidisciplinary, intercultural art platform founded in 2014 as an art association that aims to redefine art and cultural curating by recognising the social and cultural dimensions of both artworks and curatorial work.
