| A House in Jerusalem | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Muayad Alayan |
| Written by | Muayad Alayan Rami Musa Alayan |
| Starring | Johnny Harris Miley Locke Sheherazade Farrell |
| Release date |
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| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Countries | Netherlands Palestine |
| Languages | English Arabic |
| Box office | $14,861 (international) |
A House in Jerusalem is a 2023 Palestinian fantasy thriller film directed by Muayad Alayan. It premiered in February 2023 at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film tells the story of a Jewish-British girl Rebecca and her father who move to Israel into a West Jerusalem home, where she encounters the ghost of a Palestinian girl named Rasha whom only she can see. Rasha's family was expelled from that home during the 1948 Palestine war known as the Nakba. Eventually, Rebecca makes a visit to Bethlehem's Aida Camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to repay a past debt after her father had thrown out Rasha's doll, and in search of the house's historical owners. The film's screenplay was written by Muayad and Rami Musa Alayan, two Palestinian brothers. It was released by Netflix in early 2024.
Background
A House in Jerusalem is written and directed by Muayad Alayan, a Palestinian whose family was among the roughly 750,000 Palestinian Arabs who fled or were expelled from what had become Israel during the 1948 Palestine war, also known as the Nakba, and not allowed to return. Alayan's family history inspired the film. He came up with the idea for the film in 2009 while passing through his family's former neighborhood in West Jerusalem, Israel, where he saw what looked like a newly immigrant Jewish family moving into one of the city's old houses.
Plot
The film tells the story of a Jewish-British girl named Rebecca that moved with her father Michael to Israel into a West Jerusalem villa that was inherited by her grandfather who had bought it from the Israeli state in the 1960s. Rebecca finds an old doll in a well within the villa's garden which she rescues but eventually thrown away by her father. She later finds out that the doll belongs to Rasha, a Palestinian girl who she encounters as a ghost who only she can see. Apologizing to Rasha for the loss of her doll, she feels a sense of debt to the past that she should repay.
Israeli police pay a visit to the British family after Rebecca posted a picture online of the house, inquiring about its historical owners. She eventually makes a visit to nearby Bethlehem's Aida Camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Rasha's parents were reported to have fled to during the 1948 Palestine war. There, Rebecca meets old Rasha, who is eventually taken by Rebecca's father to visit her old house.
Cast
- Johnny Harris as Michael
- Miley Locke as Rebecca
- Sheherazade Farrell as Rasha
Production
The Jerusalem house was filmed in East Jerusalem rather than the western part as it would have been difficult to convince the tenants there of shooting a film narrating the Palestinian history of it according to the director. The director also stated that the film had to be shot incognito and claim that it was for documentary purposes as doing otherwise would have complicated the licensing process from Israeli authorities. The film is the first ever UK/Palestine joint production.
Critical reception
A House in Jerusalem received generally positive reviews, with 75% of eight reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes being positive. A review in the Financial Times described it as being accessible for young viewers and that it wraps up "with a degree of contrivance and sentiment, but conveys its historical lesson economically." Steve Rose, writing for The Guardian, commented that "the deeper roots of the story give it extra resonance and relevance, while the broader regional landscape of dispossession and inter-generational trauma are encapsulated with some subtlety and sensitivity." A review in The Jewish Chronicle gave the film two out of five stars and called the film "awfully presumptuous", chiefly objecting to the premise that a 10-year-old British Jewish girl may not have been told by her family about the "context in which Israel was established and exists".
References
- "A House in Jerusalem (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "A House in Jerusalem". IMDB. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "Netflix releases Palestinian film 'A House in Jerusalem'". Broadcastprome. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Palestinian ghost stories: How filmmakers are using the supernatural to confront the wounds of the Nakba". Middle East Eye. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "A House in Jerusalem holds the memories and grief of Nakba, dispossession". Al Jazeera. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "A House in Jerusalem: A story of grief, ghosts and the Palestinian experience". The National. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- Parker, Autumn. "A House in Jerusalem: How this Nottingham company made the first UK and Palestine co-produced film". Leftlion.
- "A House in Jerusalem". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "A House in Jerusalem review — gentle Palestinian film is haunted by Middle East history". Financial Times. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "A House in Jerusalem review – supernatural drama of Israeli-Palestinian history". The Guardian. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "Film review: A House in Jerusalem 'Where this film flounders is in its depiction of a British Jewish family'". The Jewish Chronicle. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.