HotHouse

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HotHouse

Almost ten thousand Palestinians, designated by the Israeli government as “Security Prisoners,” are incarcerated in Israel today. Most Israelis consider them murderers and criminals, but most Palestinians regard them as freedom fighters. Granted rare permission to film inside the country’s highest security facilities, Israeli filmmaker Shimon Dotan shows everyday prison life, including biweekly family visits, internal elections, periodic security searches of cells, and relations between inmates and prison staff. HotHouse also features interviews with many Palestinian prisoners, including those involved in suicide bombings. Although their political demands are understandable, the bloodcurdling confessions of these proud, unrepentant and often smiling terrorists expose the moral disconnect required for such inhuman actions. HotHouse also makes it clear that the Israeli criminal justice system uses imprisonment to stifle or control Palestinian democratic political life. The Palestinian experience in Israeli prisons has become a national symbol in Palestine, and the prisons themselves have become virtual universities for Palestinian nationalism.

Festivals and Awards:

Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival, USA, 2007; Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New York & London, 2007;  Silver Docs Film Festival, USA, 2007; Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, Canada, 2007;  San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA, 2007; Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia, 2007; Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, Canada, 2007; Chicago International Documentary Festival, USA, 2007; Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel, 2006

Director: Shimon Dotan

Producer: Yonatan Aroch, Dikla Barkai, Arik Bernstein, Shimon Dotan

Production Company: Alma Prodaction

Cinematographer: Shai Goldman, Philippe Bellaiche, Hanna Abu Sada

Editor: Ayala Bengad

Original Soundtrack: Ron Klein

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, The Rich Foundation, ARTE

Script: Shimon Dotan

Distributor: First Run/Icarus Films

Subtitles: English

Film Name in Hebrew: הביטחוניים

Almost ten thousand Palestinians, designated by the Israeli government as “Security Prisoners,” are incarcerated in Israel today. Most Israelis consider them murderers and criminals, but most Palestinians regard them as freedom fighters. Granted rare permission to film inside the country’s highest security facilities, Israeli filmmaker Shimon Dotan shows everyday prison life, including biweekly family visits, internal elections, periodic security searches of cells, and relations between inmates and prison staff. HotHouse also features interviews with many Palestinian prisoners, including those involved in suicide bombings. Although their political demands are understandable, the bloodcurdling confessions of these proud, unrepentant and often smiling terrorists expose the moral disconnect required for such inhuman actions. HotHouse also makes it clear that the Israeli criminal justice system uses imprisonment to stifle or control Palestinian democratic political life. The Palestinian experience in Israeli prisons has become a national symbol in Palestine, and the prisons themselves have become virtual universities for Palestinian nationalism.

Festivals and Awards:

Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival, USA, 2007; Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New York & London, 2007;  Silver Docs Film Festival, USA, 2007; Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, Canada, 2007;  San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA, 2007; Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia, 2007; Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, Canada, 2007; Chicago International Documentary Festival, USA, 2007; Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel, 2006

Director: Shimon Dotan

Producer: Yonatan Aroch, Dikla Barkai, Arik Bernstein, Shimon Dotan

Production Company: Alma Prodaction

Cinematographer: Shai Goldman, Philippe Bellaiche, Hanna Abu Sada

Editor: Ayala Bengad

Original Soundtrack: Ron Klein

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, The Rich Foundation, ARTE

Script: Shimon Dotan

Distributor: First Run/Icarus Films

Subtitles: English

Film Name in Hebrew: הביטחוניים

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