Hothouse 2006
Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710
Produced by Arik Bernstein
Directed by Shimon Dotan
DVD, color, 89 min.
College - Adult
Criminal Justice, Human Rights, Law, Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies
Date Entered: 03/20/2007
Reviewed by Douglas Reed, Department of Political Science, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, ARIn a candid and unflinching portrait of Palestinian prisoners, Shimon Dotan takes viewers inside the highest security prisons in Israel. Thousands of Palestinians fill these detention facilities because of their involvement in suicide bombings and alleged questionable political activities.
Filmed on location in both men’s and women’s prisons, Hothouse questions whether these facilities are quelling violence or bolstering the Palestinian cause. Personal interviews with detainees and prison guards reveal the latter. Imprisonment affords the Palestinians the chance to broaden their ideological and political education. Because of these opportunities, young prisoners with very little formal education often become some of the more articulate champions of Palestinian nationalism. The prisons have also nurtured an intricate communication network among the various cell blocks, which are grouped by political affiliation.
Some of the more chilling moments in Hothouse are when inmates state why they are incarcerated and what they plan to do after they are released. Several of the male and female prisoners show no remorse for planning and implementing suicide bombings that killed the most innocent of civilians - small children. They are also dedicated to raising their own children to be martyrs for Palestinian independence.
Overall, Dotan’s provocative account shows how Israeli prisons function as a significant training ground for future Palestinian leaders. The film is an excellent resource for teachers of politics and criminal justice.
Hothouse was selected to compete in the 2006 Jerusalem Film Festival and won a Special Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.