lemon tree (imdb) was the best film i've seen in the fest this year, at least so far. there are still a few more days and i still have passes to burn.
in any case, "lemon tree" tells the story of salma zidane, a palestinian woman who lives off a lemon grove on the edge of the green line. the israeli defense minister moves into the property just across the fence and soon her lemon trees are declared to be a security risk by the minister's security protocol. salma ends up fighting for her lemon trees all the way to the israeli supreme court. the film does a really good job of creating three dimensional characters on all sides of the story. the defense minister, his wife and the soldiers are not caricatures, even as the film portrays the hardships they impose on salma and the helplessness of the palestinians against israeli power. like in the syrian bride, director eran riklis does an great job of showing the way that politics creates turmoil in the lives of regular people.
the fantastic acting of haim abbass didn't hurt either. but she's always really good. no wonder mrs. noz developed a crush on her after seeing the visitor.
