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Past Film/Video | Contemporary Screen | Documentaries
Columbus Premiere
$8 members and adults 55 and over$10 general public$5 students
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Three Promises is a powerful story of a mother and her camera, of a son and his memories, and of Palestine.
In the early 2000s, while the Israeli army is retaliating against the Second Intifada in the West Bank, young mother Suha records home movies of her family day-to-day. Her life is punctuated by frequent trips underground and overwhelmed by the anguish of her two children. At every moment of intense danger, she promises God that she will leave if they survive. Nearly two decades later, her son—director Yousef Srouji—discovers this archive and with it his stolen childhood. He and his mother reconnect with their suppressed past, wondering what drove her to record a daily life of suffering and why she delayed fleeing, paralyzed by hope for change and burdened by the impossible choice between physical safety and emotional upheaval. While on the surface there emerges a heartrending portrait of everyday life in times of war, the staggering beauty of a mother’s love is revealed between the lines. Blending the voices of the present with remarkable family footage, Srouji completes the story begun by his mother, thus averting the act of forgetting, both personal and cultural. (61 mins., DCP)
IMAGE CAPTIONThree Promises, courtesy of the filmmaker.
Yousef Srouji is a first-time documentary filmmaker and longtime storyteller. His work centers around understanding the dynamics of occupation in Palestine and community resilience in conflict zones. He holds an MA in development practice from UC Berkeley and hopes to use his skills to aid and empower marginalized communities in the Middle East. Srouji spent the first part of his childhood in Palestine, then relocated to Qatar with his family in the midst of the Second Intifada. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he earned a BA in economics. He has been a fellow with the SFFilm Catapult Documentary program and Gotham Documentary Feature Lab (formerly IFP Documentary Lab) and received production and postproduction grants from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).
FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY National Endowment for the Arts Ohio Humanities
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Rohauer Collection Foundation
WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY Ohio Department of Development Greater Columbus Arts Council The Wexner Family Institute of Museum and Library Services Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts CampusParc Nationwide Foundation Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme The Columbus Foundation Axium Packaging Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Mike and Paige Crane Nancy Kramer Ohio State Energy Partners Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection Larry and Donna James David Crane and Elizabeth Dang Bruce and Joy Soll Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle Jones Day Alex and Renée Shumate
Past Film/Video
Three Promises
