200 Meters

In Ameen Nayfeh’s accomplished feature debut, a Palestinian father navigates the complexities of life under occupation, where the wall separates him from his family.

Every night, Mustafa says goodnight to his children by flashlight – signalling across the 200 metres that keep them apart, on either side of the encroaching Israeli-constructed wall. But when his son is taken to hospital, the distance that separates him from his family might as well be an ocean. Via bureaucracy, heavily-policed checkpoints and smugglers, his odyssey collides fatefully with others – from a young boy simply trying to find work, to a naively defiant Palestinian returning home for his cousin’s wedding with his camera-ready German girlfriend. Whilst the wall fragments Palestine itself, it is the subtle and labyrinthine ramifications of everyday life that Ameen Nayfeh brings into frame, highlighting the ingenuity and dignity of Mustafa’s attempts to withstand the situation.