Name: Paradise Lost
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2003-04-06
Duration: 54 min
Rating: 7.9

PARADISE LOST is an excellent addition to a set of recent films by women dealing with exile & the search for home. The difference is that PARADISE LOST is an extremely personal doc told entirely in the first person, whereas these films are more typically narrative features that allow filmmaker to hide her own emotions within the story (e.g., BRICK LANE, FRAULEIN, THE NAMESAKE, etc).

Furthermore, primary location is a Palestinian village that is located somewhere along the Israeli coast (within the Haifa/Tel Aviv corridor), so emotions are very raw. Contrast this to the characters in FRAULEIN who meet in Zurich after the Bosnian War is long over.

Highly recommended film is available on VHS from Manhattan distributor Women Make Movies (www.wmm.com).

Signed: Jan Lisa Huttner

Arabic-language cinema spans many regions, with Egypt pioneering popular musicals and melodramas, while Lebanon, Palestine, and North Africa use film as a medium for political expression and memory. Collectively, it expresses Arab identity onscreen and has influenced storytelling across the Middle East.

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The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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A picturesque fishermen village overlooking the Mediterranean, Paradise is a Palestinian enclave inside the state of Israel, with a history that ecoes stories of a massacre and deportation. When the director investigates the secret past of her village Paradise, she uncovers more than she expected. Before she knows it, she is warned by her mother: "don't be like Sou'ad" - referring to the sad story about a rebellious "bad girl" whose story became a myth in the village. Accused and imprisoned as a PLO activist back in the 70's, Sou'ad is more than just a role model for the young director. But when she deepening her research, her trouble really begins. A filmic-diary about recreating a lost history, and about re-defining modern womanhood within the traditional village life.

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Paradise Lost

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