Surda Checkpoint (2005)

Handling

The road between between Surda and Ramallah is used by over 60,000 residents of 35 villages as well as by thousands who commute between Ramallah and Birzeit University in the West Bank.It is here that one of the early checkpoints was set up by the Israeli army in March 2001.The film observes various stages in the life of this checkpoint, its growth from a mound of earth placed across the road to a series of cement barriers that have to be squeezed through, to its removal in July 2003. Using only observational footage and very few captions, Surda Checkpoint allows us to take in to daily experience of what it means to have one’s life disrupted, one’s path obstructed, one’s schedule delayed by hours of waiting.