The Present

The Present is a Palestinian short film that takes a very simple scenario of a man living in the West Bank who sets out with his daughter to buy his wife an anniversary gift, against the many checkpoints and surveillances that come with being a Palestinian.

The success of this movie is that it doesn't try to showcase the horrors of the occupation, rather a more relatable scenario that can be empathized with universally, using that to share what it's like to be on the receiving end of the occupation. It's a movie that I feel everyone should watch, and is one I would wholeheartedly recommend.

A 24 mins that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you get to experience a glimpse of the protagonist's perspective as he suffers just to get his wife...an anniversary present.

The film's introduction builds a connection between audience members and the characters of the short film just through one scene. With the help of the production design, our first look at the three characters that the story revolves around takes place at their house in a small bedroom where they share a cute family moment. As well as, cute husband and wife moment that tells us the relationship that the married couple have and the struggles they face. Thanks to this short introduction, an empathy is created in our hearts that carries on till the end of the struggling short trip that the protagonist makes.

Watched on: November 26th, 2023 My rating: 9/10.

My favourite thing about films like this is that you get to see other things in the world that you wouldn't normally experience, for better or for worse.

I don't really know much about the subject but after watching this I researched a little bit about it and I'm still not 100% sure what the point in these checkpoints are but I did read that workers have to stand and wait at them from 3am to go to work. That is crazy.

This film shows that struggle by forming it as a simple shopping trip that takes the whole day, from early in the morning and having them return when it's dark. It's shows the cruelty of people and that people with power will try and use that against people with none.

The Lead actor was fantastic and you could see the rage and pain in his eyes.

I watched this film via a film festival and got to hear from the director that the opening scene of humans walking through an Israeli checkpoint were live and real. My God! Seeing these forbidden scenes that mainstream media won't show alone is a reason to watch this film. The beautiful superb acting and simple story being the point home beautifully. We need more from Palestinian film makers bearing witness to the plight of the plight of Palestinians in this humane way.

The Present is a heartbreaking film that illustrates the reality of the israeli occupation in Palestine. In this short film, the director was able to brilliantly capture the essence of the inhumane israeli occupation of Palestinians by demonstrating its unjust treatment of Palestinian citizens and showcasing the checkpoints, segregated roads, constant interrogation and continuous armed inspection that Palestinians must go through every single day when performing tasks as simple as going shopping in their town. The film also sheds light on the physical and mental repercussions of this occupation on the men, women and especially children who suffer because of it.