Jewish Film Festival

Unsettled

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance 2007 and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2007 Florida Film Festival, UNSETTLED is an extraordinary chronicle of the young people—settlers and soldiers alike—whose lives are upended by Israel’s 2005 pullout from the Gaza strip. For thousands of Israeli settlers, their place in the Promised Land was thought to be permanent; now they are obstacles in the path to peace in the Middle East. The film puts the audience in the middle of this highly emotional story of Israeli citizens pitted against one another. Tension fills the days leading to forced evictions, the violent arguments as neighbors disagree, and the inevitable confrontations with young soldiers honor-bound to separate their brethren from their homes. On the streets, on front porches, on the beaches, and in kitchens, the human consequences of ancient hostility and contemporary policy show the real story behind the diplomatic negotiations and newspaper headlines. For young Israelis, the summer of 2005 will change the meaning—and for some the very location—of “home.”

“Hootnick manages the near-impossible: He delivers a film that is fair to both sides in the heart-rending debate, one that captures with honesty and intimacy the bonds that unite all Jews even as they wrestle with one another.”

– Lyn Payne

HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS