Rachel - Wellington Film Society

Simone Bitton
France
2009 exempt

Simone Bitton's intelligent, layered film investigates the death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie who died in the Gaza Strip in 2003 trying to stop army bulldozers from levelling a Palestinian house. It may seem surprising that a Moroccan-born Israeli filmmaker would choose to put an American casualty at the centre of a film about the Palestinian struggle. In fact, the new generation of globalised activists crossing the world to put themselves in harm's way is very much her subject.

In tracing Corrie's evolution from Atlanta schoolgirl idealist to frontline activist, and interviewing her surviving comrades-in-arms, Bitton delineates a spiritual journey that many a loving middle-class family - from Georgia to Geraldine - has learned to regard with pride and apprehension. While exhaustively cross-examining IDF officials and the Palestinian families who knew Corrie, Bitton uncovers enough evidence to rouse another wave of activists. Her film is a clear-eyed elegy for a young woman who saw bad and wanted to do good. - Bill Gosden, NZ International Film Festival, 2009.