They say that home is where the heart it. This is not something most Europeans probably contemplate, but if you’re born in many parts of the world this idiom can have very different connotations. Some of us are privileged enough to have a country to call our own for our whole lives, however much it might frustrate us at times. Refugees have no such luck. Removed from their homeland, often with no way of ever returning.
The Palestinian Right of Return to their homes is enshrined in United Nations Resolution 194. Unfortunately, the UN isn’t too hot on enforcing anything pertaining to Israel. Regardless of how many different breaches of law they’ve notched up. Fadia is a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon who yearns for the ancestral homeland she’s been denied all her life. A chance meeting with filmmaker Sarah Beddington sparks a quest in Fadia’s Tree.
In a film about a friendship spanning fifteen years, Fadia’s Tree is a personal journey which echoes the stories of many others. Borders are human constructs. Often conceived with scant regard to the inhabitants. More about politics than improvement. It’s a documentary about memory, family and remembrance. About the cruelty humans inflict on others. About the need to stay connected to our roots.
Fadia’s Tree is out in UK cinemas on 5 August.
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