UK Premiere: This is My Land + Q&A

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Tamara Erde.

This is My Land takes us inside school classrooms in Israel and the occupied West Bank, to look at how educators teach history in a contested region. Director Tamara Erde was raised in Israel and now lives in Paris. She begins by explaining her own background: having grown up in the Israeli public school system, she never had exposure to the Palestinian side of history until she joined the army and gained a greater interest.

Filmed in an observational style, This is My Land, presents a nuanced analysis of the core educational institutions in Israel and Palestine. Candid interviews with students reveal shocking discrepancies in perspectives of history, concepts of freedom, and definitions of nationality.

Throughout the film, Erde visits six schools that reflect the complex demographics of the region: an Israeli high school in Haifa; an Arab school in Ibilin; a boys’ school in Ramallah; a Talmudic school in a West Bank settlement; a school in an UNRWA refugee camp; and an Israeli school that combines Jewish and Arab students.

The contrasts are wholly fascinating and raise important questions about youth assimilation and pedagogy. Uncovering a wide range of teaching techniques, Erde shows how history is transplanted onto the shoulders of the younger generations. The film prompts the question: how long will the past dictate the present?

Directed by Tamara Erde
Production Company: Iliade & Films
Duration: 93′
Year: 2014