Educational Media Reviews Online

Hafreiat focuses on Mohammed al-Qaisi, an excavator at an archaeological site in Jordan. He has a wife and a son, with another child on the way. He and the other workers would like a raise from 10 to 15 dinars but are told this is not possible. Some workers say they would leave without the raise, but al-Qaisi has served time in several prisons, and thinks he could not get a better job, even if he could find one. His second child arrives at the end of the film, perhaps bringing hope of better times.

It's difficult to form a strong opinion about Hafreiat because there is so little context offered in the film. The title is not translated or explained. Is it the place where the dig occurs? Credits are in Spanish and Arabic, and we can presume the director is Spanish and those organizing the dig are from Spain. Some Spanish (and English) is heard being spoken, but the majority of the dialogue is in Arabic. There are no details about the site, or the archaeologists involved.

It would have been interesting to learn more about the worker pay situation, as well as the general working conditions at the site. When the laborers ask the supervisor, who they call Doctor, about getting 15 dinars because of the cost of living, the Doctor replies he is not a millionaire, and 15 dinars is out of the question. A viewer can wonder if this situation is a new kind of colonialist exploitation, but the issue is not explored further.

Mohammad al-Qaisi tells a friend, "I've lost half my life in prison." He talks of his previous use of drugs and says he has quit that, but once again there are questions. Were his prison sentences related to drugs? What were the conditions in the prisons?

Growing up, al-Qaisi tells of enduring an abusive father and stepmother. He even says his father tried to shoot him several times because of his stepmother. But once again, no further details are given.

The film has no narrator, and there are no notes on the screen about the situations. We learn only from al-Qaisi and the scenes he is in. Frederick Wiseman has shown that a documentary approach that eschews filmmaker explanation or intervention can be powerful but is best when multiple viewpoints are explored and the documentary runs for multiple hours. Little can be gotten in the 77 minutes Hafreiat offers.

Despite the provocative ideas and situations introduced in Hafreiat, the lack of detail earns this a rating of Not Recommended.

Awards:
2023 Amman International Film Festival, Audience Award; 2023 Miradasdoc, Special Mention; 2022 Seminci, Doc España, Best National Documentary

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