Afterward

Ofra Block a psychoanalyst and filmmaker powerfully engages in interviewing second generation Germans and Palestinians. She herself as interviewer- participant forced me as a member of the audience to confront past and current history and my own hard held beliefs and prejudices. She did this by showing what the act of truly listening to people who we look upon as enemies and who do not hold our personal views can be a gesture of taking responsibility. Her film raises many questions and does not attempt to give solutions. However what it does do is to put us on alert not to turn away from past history or our current political realities and to take heed and remember our humanity and that we are all in this together. It is also beautifully filmed and needs to be seen.

A compassionate exploration of global wounds and the role of deep listening as a tool for healing ourselves and others. We are transformed as we participate in a deeply personal journey of an experienced psychoanalyst and filmmaker who travels across the globe to witness the stories of people she was taught to hate and fear. She attempts to ask without judgment the hard questions that will help her better understand global Transgenerational Trauma. She begins a conversation that may move us toward the possibility of a world without the cultural, political and religious violence that has created a rend in our moral universe. In the process, the director becomes her own subject and learns a lesson that alters the way she sees forever.

If you are someone who likes to contemplate the complexity of human relations without looking for easy answers, this is the film for you. Ofra is a shining example of how to stay engaged with all sides of a traumatic situation so that each voice can be heard in its unique wisdom. She does not force interpretation, but allows the viewer to reach deep into themselves, in order to be touched by the various forms of suffering.

A hopeful vision of the transformative power of true presence, and authentic listening. This film is an excellent tool for teaching, and raising deep questions.

Through a series of conversations with the German children of Nazi officers, Palestinians, and her own reflections, Ofra / the filmmaker, examines her own past growing up in Israel, moving to the United States, and the ongoing inter-generational trauma experienced by all sides. This is a movie that haunts you with the questions, courage, and wisdom of all the speakers, by talking with each other honestly about their past, present, and possible future.

This film should be seen by everyone. It provides a deeply moving, sensitive, insightful and thought provoking understanding of current attitudes and historical antecedents to the current climate in Israel and Palestine. I grew up in a community that was deeply connected to Israel where many people traveled there and chose to live there as adults and spoke of Palestinians only with extreme derision. As an adult I learned that the full story was more complex than I had known.

This film portrays Israelis and Palestinians in their full humanity. Perhaps when people begin to reach across the historical divide and fully appreciate the humanness of their "enemies" a lasting peace may become possible.

Everyone should see this film!