The 85th Academy Awards ‘class photo’ from Monday’s nominee luncheon went live today. Among the 156 pioneers of cinema stood Emad Burnat, co-director of the film 5 Broken Cameras nominated this year for best Documentary Feature. Burnat is directly beneath the green star, wearing a light blue shirt in the last row to the far right.
5 Broken Cameras documents non-violent resistance in the West Bank village of Bil’in primarily through Burnat’s eyes — or lenses, really. With his village split in half by Israel’s barrier wall and as Israeli settlements continue to appropriate more and more Palestinian land, Burnat takes to his camera to share with the world the abuses he and other Palestinians face daily. One by one his cameras are destroyed.
Burnat, who co-directed the film with Guy Davidi, will represent not just his camerawork but the struggle of millions of Palestinians worldwide.
Burnat’s brother Iyad is the current leader of the Bil’in Popular Committee in charge of organizing weekly demonstrations against Israel’s barrier wall.
The original photograph can be found here.
Thank you for the post. -5BC Management