Premiering tomorrow: "A Caged Bird Sings"
"A Caged Bird Sings"
A film by Amanda Leigh Smith // Edited by Josiah Marshal & Amanda Leigh Smith // Music by Julie Byrne
In May of 2017, I traveled to a small village in Area C of the West Bank, Palestine. Nabi Saleh, about 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah, is noted for their weekly marches to protest the occupation established in 2009 when the neighboring Israeli settlement began expanding into private Palestinian land. Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory where the Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and educational services, however infrastructure is controlled by Israel, creating barriers for Palestinians to access school, work, or hospitals.
Following the lives of three women living in Nabi Saleh, A Caged Bird Sings tells the story of the inescapable affects of the occupation on the daily lives of the youth and families entrenched in the conflict. In spite of facing many challenges, including risking their life, they remain committed and motivated to fight for their rights to exist, using hope as their strongest weapon.