Writer’s Choice
Couples’ dilemma connects politics, personal
When Shakespeare explored this predicament in “Romeo and Juliet,” the resolution he presented was not a happy one.
In 2005 independent filmmaker Elle Flanders tried her hand at this territory, broadening the discourse from the familial to the nationalistic in “Zero Degrees of Separation,” an award-winning cinéma vérité meditation on what it means to be sleeping with the enemy in these latter days, as two mixed Israeli-Palestinian couples attempt to build lives together in 21st century Israel.
Pictured here is Ezra (right), a 50-something plumber born to Iraqi-Jewish parents and one of the central characters of “Zero Degrees.” As a gay man, Ezra feels marginalized by his society. With his Palestinian partner, Selim, he also is confronted daily by the struggle between Palestine and Israel.
Photo: courtesy Communication Arts
The film had its genesis in 2002, when Flanders received a box of family home movies from her aunt. Along the way, she realized that one member of one of the couples profiled in the film had been her grandparents’ gardener in the early days of the state of Israel. Today he is a plumber who also assists Arab-Israel peace groups. Meanwhile, his Arab lover is unable to live legally in Jerusalem because he can’t get an Israeli identity card.
Flanders is touring American college campuses with the intent, she says, of encouraging dialogue. She will be at UW–Madison to do that in person after the film screens at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, in 4070 Vilas Hall. In addition, Flanders will be featured in an interview on WORT’s (89.9 FM) “Daily Buzz” program at 8:10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 3.
Katherine Spring, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication Arts, is coordinating the screening and related events. Spring says that an insistent phone call led to Flanders’ appearance at UW–Madison.
“A friend in Montreal called me after she had attended a screening of ‘Zero Degrees’ and a post-film discussion with Flanders. My friend sounded so excited — she insisted I see the film, and I did. I knew right away it would appeal to Madison audiences. Time and again, our city’s filmgoers welcome movies from all over the world, films that represent a myriad of political and personal perspectives. Our audiences also ask intelligent questions of visiting directors. This event is a perfect fit,” Spring says.
She appreciates the film for its contentious questioning of religion, politics and nationhood, she says. “It’s also an intensely personal film. Flanders uses the stories of contemporary Israeli and Palestinian gay and lesbian couples to explore her own family history. Flanders has written that the film is not about gay and lesbian life in Israel, and I agree. The conflict presented in the film centers on the director grappling with her own family history,” Spring says.
Flanders has emphasized repeatedly that the film is about the invisible lines that separate and connect us all.
“The film is about two peoples, one land, its history and the injustice experienced by myself and those around me who live on the margin of margins,” Flanders says. “It is a film that weaves together my world and my grandparents’, the present and the past. I hope the film will force viewers to ask themselves what their own role in history is, and what their role in this conflict is.”
The Nov. 9 screening and discussion are both free and open to all. For more information, contact Spring, 262-3627 or kaspring@wisc.edu.