Educational Media Reviews Online

Filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau describes the Palestinian/Israeli conflict as a “continued failure of the human spirit.” He spent a season living with people on both sides of “the fence.” The Israeli government has built a razor wire fence to separate the Israeli occupied areas from Palestine, in efforts to curb violence and terrorism. In addition to the primary fence, the Israelis have built checkpoints to regulate the movements of people and goods.

The film begins with Trudeau reviewing the general prosperity of the Israeli agricultural workers living in the Yizrali Valley. Thirty miles south in the Palestine settlement of Jenin, life is much different. This war torn town has no stores and extremely poor roads. Trudeau and his film crew literally risked injury and death in moving throughout Jenin to conduct interviews and gather other footage. Trudeau even managed to hold a brief interview with the leader of the Jenin’s anti-Israel militia.

This documentary takes the audience on a heart wrenching journey into the hope, desperation, and bitterness of the heavily militarized West Bank. The interviews are well done and give personal stories of hardship on both sides. The Fence transports the viewer into this world like no other. Though the Israelis are concerned with security, Trudeau contends that the fence only heightens the animosity between the two sides. In addition, this documentary provides interviews with people who in all likelihood will be evicted from their longtime homes due to redefinition of borders.

This is a powerful film, and receives the highest recommendation, but there are times at which the film would have benefited from the inclusion of subtitles. Furthermore, viewers should be prepared for unfettered language in this realistic and sobering depiction of life in the West Bank.