That unusual thing; a documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that manages to be hopeful (if still heartbreaking). It focuses an various groups' attempts to find way to forge bonds and end the hatred. Most touching is the group for bereaved parents from both side of the conflict who've lost children in the fighting and who come together to share their pain. Somehow the film as a whole didn't have quite the overwhelming emotional impact it seemed to be headed for, but still a very good, important and worthy documentary.

Israel-Palestine is a region which the West knows far too little about. About its very complex history, but also about the people and their everyday worries. This documentary follows Jewish and Palestinian (Muslim and Christian) peace activists who have lost relatives in the conflict -- through suicide bombers, snipers, trigger-happy soldiers or just as plain "collateral damage". They know how terrible it is to lose a loved one and want to spare others the same misery. The glass eye of the camera follows them around in a plain, fly-on-the-wall (cinéma vérité) approach. They include the dreaded "activist mother" as well as a bull-necked former soldier, a future assistant mayor and a would-have-been bomb builder. What makes them so appealing is that they are normal, diverse people on a difficult mission.One scene shows us a group of Israelis visiting a group of Palestinians in the occupied territory; the Israelis chicken out and want to change the location, their Palestinian go-between becomes annoyed and, like a stroppy child, refuses to talk to them on the phone. When they finally meet, the Israeli group leader chides him: "If only you would have talked to me, we could have cleared this up in five minutes!". In another scene, an Israeli mother challenges settlers with advocating Apartheid. A settler mother responds that if she wants them to give up the settlement, this means digging up all their dead. A Palestinian woman describes how a settler has smashed all her windows in order to get her family to abandon their home.Scenes like these convey more emotional information than long essays. This is what makes this documentary so gripping to watch.

I've seen my share of documentaries on this subject, and even toyed with making one myself. But I've never seen one that was this fresh and vital. Mostly it has to do with the characters featured in the film. On both sides, the people in "Encounter Point" are just exceptional human beings who make you glad to be alive. In recent years I've been wearied by the endless twists and turns that day to day events take in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But "Encounter Point" helps to show that there are stronger undercurrents, driven by people who are both intelligent and committed. And watching it gives you hope that there could be a different way to approach the debate than through series of historical arguments and high-pitched recriminations.Mostly, though, it was just a pleasure to spend time with optimistic, funny, righteous people who made me really care about their situations. Thanks to the filmmakers for bringing them to me.

I saw this documentary on the Tribeca film festival in New York, and it's a very impressive movie about the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian ordinary people to try to achieve peace by meeting each other and try to get to understand each other. They all have in common that they lost family members in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle (or should I say war?), but decided to put the hatred behind them and concentrate on saving the living, while still acknowledging their losses.The movie does a good job showing how these people on both side of the fence work to achieve their goals and the difficulties they experience, and try to get other people also to leave their hatred behind, and resist hate and occupation through non-violent means. I found it a welcome glimpse into Israeli and Palestinian society, that shows there is something else possible beside fundamentalism (Jewish or Muslim).If it is showing near you or on TV, see it if you can!