by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Israeli-Canadian documentary filmmaker Ronit Avni is a little nervous about returning to her hometown for the screening of her directorial debut Encounter Point at the NFB this weekend.

“It’s exciting to bring it to Montreal, and also a little bit scary,” she admits over the phone from New York, where she now lives.

The longtime human rights worker has been winning awards and glowing reviews for her film, which follows four Israelis and four Palestinians as they try to convince their respective communities of the benefits of peaceful coexistence and non-violent conflict resolution.

Co-directed by Julia Bacha, who co-wrote and edited the acclaimed Al-Jazeera doc Control Room, Encounter Point largely avoids political questions, focusing instead on a disparate group of compelling, ordinary individuals. What they all have in common is the belief that Israelis and Palestinians must grasp control of their own destinies and not wait for politicians to make peace—a belief obviously shared by the 29-year-old director.

Missing focus

After graduating from Vassar College with a BA in political science (she also has a degree in professional theatre studies from Dawson), Avni worked with Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, where her passion for filmmaking blossomed.

“I bought a second-hand video camera in Montreal and began to do documentation work of human rights issues in the Middle East,” she says. “I really fell in love with the intersection of film and human rights work.”

She soon joined Peter Gabriel’s organization Witness, where she immersed herself in her twin passions, writing and producing a string of documentaries. While working with Witness, Avni decided to take a stab at directing herself, choosing a subject close to her heart.

“I was working with Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations that had a subculture of cooperation and of recognition,” she says. “There was very little media attention on what people could actually do. There was a lot on militancy, on cycles of violence, on political developments, but very little about ordinary people exercising their sense of agency.”

Avni and company did almost 500 preliminary interviews over two years before selecting their subjects. They include a former Israeli settler who once belonged to a political party advocating the expulsion of Arabs, a Palestinian who was imprisoned for his involvement with militant groups and bereaved relatives on both sides.

When Shlomo met Ali

Perhaps the most intriguing characters are Shlomo, the former settler, and Ali, whose brother was killed by an Israeli soldier and who himself was shot and imprisoned by the Israelis. Near the end of the film, Shlomo and Ali meet. It’s a fascinating encounter as Shlomo, who’s never really spoken with a Palestinian, listens as Ali describes his involvement in the first intifada and the realities of life under military occupation.

“Shlomo has continued to amaze us with his transformation,” Avni says. “I think that he recently invited Ali and his brother Khaled to meet with the settlers he used to live with.”

Despite its serious subject matter, Encounter Point has its humourous moments as well. In one scene, Ali suggests a novel solution to the bloodshed based on a habit common to many on both sides. “Every Israeli or Palestinian who wants to smoke has to buy cigarettes from the other side,” he jokes. “There’d be peace in a day.”

For all her filmmaking experience, and the contacts she made while working in the field of human rights, Avni says it was a challenge getting Encounter Point off the ground. “Funding was incredibly difficult. It’s very hard because people are scared. They don’t know how it’s going to be depicted, and they’re leery of any kind of agenda.”

Avni herself is reluctant to discuss the tangled politics of Israel/Palestine, preferring to let her film speak for itself. “What I’m trying to do with the film is give people direct access to voices on the ground, and I don’t want any of my political opinions to preclude them from coming and experiencing that first-hand,” she says. “People are so cynical about filmmakers who touch this issue and what their bias is. I really want people to come as openly as they possibly can.”

Encounter Point runs as part of the 9th Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the NFB (1564 St-Denis), 6:50 p.m. and again Monday, Nov. 13 at the Cinémathèque québécoise (335 de Maisonneuve E.), 7:15 p.m. For more info on the film, visit www.encounterpoint.com. For ticket info, visit www.ridm.qc.ca.