I’ve just finished watching Checkpoint which is Yoav Shamir’s award winning documentary that took a look inside the checkpoints that, until recently, were setup in the Gaza Strip. Filmed between 2001 and 2003, it’s a look at Isreali soldiers hassling Palestineans who appear to be just trying to get through their day.

I first saw the film at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) in 2004, and I was shocked by how resigned the Palestineans appeared; how uncaring the soldiers seemed. On watching the film again, I was drawn in once more, seeing something much different on second viewing. This time around I’m seeing a lot of humanity on both sides of this film. The guards we’re introduced to are all young kids, and look like they would much rather be in school or playing video games at home.

Everyone is frustrated; not just those detained at checkpoints, but the guards as well. They have to listen to the same stories, hear the same excuses, and catch people in the same lies; every day. The Palestineans and the Arab Israelis hear the same conflicting stories from the guards every day; there’s a curfew / you can pass over at the checkpoint 5 miles over / etc. The innocent are treated like they are guilty, and the soldiers have no real information to pass on to the civilians.

Everyone in this movie is a peon; the soldiers are doing what they’re told, and they’re enforcing orders that appear to conflict or at least to change without notice. The civilians and the soldiers are the bottom of the heap, trapped under a pile of political crap and historical animosity that’s not going anywhere, even with recent developments in the area.

The film isn’t fantastic technically, jumping around between locations frequently, and not providing any narrative of any sort. It’s a series of similar vignettes, all reinforcing the same basic ideas of hopelessness. While the film may have been served by sticking to one checkpoint or group of soldiers, it may not have been a possibility due to bureaucratic limits.

It’s a good film, and it is one of those documentaries that I’ve seen in the last 2 years that really pushed me to pay closer attention to the documentary format. I’m anxious to see what sort of docs show up at this year’s VIFF; hopefully we’ll see even one at VIFF 2006 that is nearly as good.