Last Updated on October 4, 2021 by themigrationnews
The Present, directed by Farah Nabulsi and written by Hind Shofani is a short film of 23minutes. The film received wide international recognition; it won the ‘International Audience Prize’ in the 2020 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, as well as the BAFTA Film Award 2021, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2020, along with 30 other wins and an Oscar nomination. It is produced by Native Liberty production company and supported by the Doha Film Institute. Though short, with a simple storyline, the film leaves the viewer with a big impact.
The movie starts with a man, Yusef, waking up from his sleep in the dark outside, with only a large piece of paper separating him from the dirt. In the background the infamous graffitied wall of Gaza is visible. Though asleep outside he doesn’t appear homeless as he is well dressed and groomed. The first thing he does is grab for his bottle of pills in his pocket; he takes one, grabs his small bag which he was using as a pillow, takes a deep breath, and moves on his way.
The second scene shows a very crowded tunnel where people are waiting in lines; it is so crowded that some men chose to climb on the railings on either side of the tunnel to move ahead of the crowd, but no one seems to be bothered or address their behavior. Everyone is pushing to continue going ahead. This crowded checkpoint is the infamous Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem, “it is where thousands of Palestinian workers queue from as early as 3 am to cross into Israel for work” (Imdb 2021). Then the scene cuts once again and now the man is in the comfort of his bed with his daughter, Yasmine, running in to greet him, his wife follows. The banter between them alludes to their love and closeness. When she asks him how yesterday went and how his back pain is, he replies “like always”, and the smile on her face disappears. As it is their wedding anniversary, Yusef tells his wife that he will be taking Yasmine into town to collect her anniversary present along with groceries. They say goodbye and she asks them to take care of themselves. After they leave, she is frustrated at the old-modeled refrigerator that wouldn’t close properly.
The father and daughter stand in line awaiting their turns to cross the heavily guarded wall, the railings of which look like the walls of a prison cell. The daughter looks in confusion as the guards behave in a different and more friendly demeanor when a car filled with Jewish people passes right next to them. He looks at his watch frustrated at the time it is taking. On reaching the checkpoint, the guard asks them what is they are doing here to which Yusef doesn’t reply straight away. The guard then aggressively says that if he can go back if he chooses to remain silent. Yusef explains with frustration that he lives here and that the other guard knows him. The scene continues and the guard presses with his question of why he is crossing to which he answers by going into the details of the shopping he plans on doing. He presents his grocery list with ordinary household items to show how unnecessary these questions are. However, the guard, unsatisfied, detains Yusef, asking him to remove his belt and watch and move into a cage-like structure. “Please not now. I have my daughter with me,” Yusef pleads, but the guard then raises his gun at him and asks him to do as he is told. In the cage a long time passes, he and the two other men in there with him alternate between sitting down, standing, pacing around restlessly, and laying down, with increasing heat and aggravation. In the background, a woman with two babies is asked to turn around because she forgot her permit. The woman pleads to the guard, ‘Please I have my kids, be a human,’ to which the guard just gets more aggressive. Finally, after what seems like at least an hour the guard throws Yusef’s things on the ground without an explanation, and Yusef and Yasmine finally leave. While they are walking, his daughter stops and is embarrassed as she appeared to have wet herself. He hugs her and says he is sorry to which she replies, “No I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it. I tried,” which further emphasizes how long they had to wait. When he asks her why she didn’t tell him earlier, she replies she knew there was nothing he could do. Hearing this, the father’s eyes tear up as he realizes how helpless their situation is in their own hometown. Finally, they go grocery shopping and then buy a new fridge and he wraps it in a big red bow.
Yusef along with the refrigerator salesman, Raed, and Yasmine ride back in the car with the fridge in the back only to be stopped by the guards at the border who wave them off saying this way is now closed. Raed asks if there is another way. Yusef replies no, and having broken down, he asks Raed to let him borrow the mini trolley so that they can walk the fridge home and promises to return it. The task is anguishing for Yusef due to his back pain, and it only gets worse when it starts to rain. Finally, at nighttime, they arrive at the checkpost, and come across the same guard who gave them a hard time in the morning. The guards talk amongst them and leave Yousef and Yasmine waiting though there is no line. Yusef says nothing, just holds his aching back with one arm and Yasmine with the other silently. Later, after seeing his permit, the guard examines the fridge asking pointless questions about why Yusef has purchased it, then asks Yusef to empty all the grocery bags for examination. The guards scream at him when they find that one of the bags contains his daughter’s soiled pants. They watch him struggle to fit the fridge through the door but no one helps, Yusef finally asks if he can go through the lane through which the Jewish car previously entered, but the guard denies, saying, “Not possible. Palestinians this way only”.
Broken down by all the hardships of the day and the back pain that has only been exacerbated by pushing a fridge around all day, he goes into a meltdown screaming “It is just a fridge, can we just this one time use the road? My house is right there, I just want to go home, it is just a fridge.” As he screams, all the guards warn him to stop as they raise their guns at him. He turns and sees that Yasmine is pushing the trolley with the fridge through the forbidden road. He yells no but she keeps going. One guard stops the other from shooting her down saying, “She is just a girl. Let her go” Yusef passes through quickly and joins his daughter on the other side and they walk home.
In a movie where the main event was a man buying a fridge for his wife as a present, the struggle and pain of living like you’re an intruder in your own home is so vivid and well presented. The simplicity of the storyline makes the movie, even more impactful; since replacing a faulty fridge is neither an aberrant nor exciting task, having that be so difficult showcases the hostile restrictions imposed on the Palestinians within their own country. The millions of Palestinians that have been displaced within their own land are living the life of illegal immigrants with no place to be sent back to.
The film, though it shows no blood or scenes of brutality, depicts human suffering through the loss of humanity. The choice of scenes in the movie should be applauded; despite the short and mundane tasks showcased, they leave quite an impression. For instance, the scenes with the guards at the checkpoint show how little power Palestinians have even when they are dealt with unwarrantable behaviour. Further, the scene at the beginning of the movie with the long line shows how inconvenient and uncomfortable the Palestinians are made to feel in their own land. With Palestinians having no choice but to cross these checkpoints for their basic needs of life, like food, healthcare, and job opportunities, they are forced to withstand this ill-treatment and loss of rights without complaint. Thus, though only 23 minutes long, The Present is a well-produced film of magnificent impact and acting.
References
Imdb, 2021. [online] Imdb.com. Available at: <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11474480/>
Ranaa Madani is a recent master’s graduate from SOAS University London, she completed the Media and Development program with Distinction. Prior to that, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations.