Palestinians Sleep in Desert, Hide From Police in Israeli Film

[Scurrilous]

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"Dubbed Israel's "city of the future," Modi'in looms as an almost mythical place in Ido Haar's heartbreaking documentary, "9 Star Hotel." Penniless Palestinians in the West Bank can see its new hotels and apartments shining in the distance, a modern-day Xanadu just out of reach.

Ahmad and Muhammad are among the Palestinian laborers desperate to get to Modi'in, about halfway (20 miles) between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Increasingly cut off from work because of politics and war, the men embark on a perilous journey to find construction jobs in the city.

The movie -- which played last month at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, was a surprise hit in Israel and will be released internationally over the summer -- follows about 30 Palestinian men as they seek a better life in Israel. We see them running from police, sleeping in the desert and risking their lives crossing highways and rivers to reach the Promised Land.

Haar, an Israeli Jew who graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem, says he tried to put a human face on people who are often demonized by Israelis.

"I want them to look into the eyes of the people who build their houses," Haar said in a recent telephone interview. "I hope that people will see the faces of our 'enemies' in a new way."

The film, described by one critic as a Middle Eastern "Grapes of Wrath," has won awards at film festivals in Jerusalem, Munich, Buenos Aires and Shanghai. Shot on a shoestring with a handheld camera, it received funding from the Sundance Institute, Israel's Channel 2 and the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and TV."

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