The Israeli army placed Ramallah under curfew and blockaded Yasser Arafat's compound two weeks before this interview. Unable to return home, Azza spoke to BBC Four from Jordan on 21 April.

BBC Four: Did you have much idea about what you were going to film when you started This is Palestine?
Azza El-Hassan: This is the first documentary I've made without any initial financial support or a script. When the second Palestinian uprising started in October 2000, I found myself stuck in the house. All my other projects were put on hold. Ramallah was under siege so I couldn't move. I felt helpless and I wanted to do something so I started filming my immediate surrounds, my neighbours and the local kids.

BBC Four: Why did you choose to film a group of children?
AE: I found myself concentrating more on the children because I felt that they were the most affected by what was happening. They reminded me of my own childhood in Lebanon during the Israeli invasion in 1982.

BBC Four: Did you detect much long-term optimism in the group of children you filmed?
AE: Unfortunately, I detected none. Their pessimism toward their life and toward the future became very apparent when I asked them if I could film them again in five years time. When they told me they did not know if they'd be alive in five years, or that one of them may have emigrated, I felt that their childhood has long been gone, because death cannot be so close to a child's mind.

BBC Four: Your film really brings home how news crews are constantly filming in Ramallah. How do you feel about the city's portrayal by the rest of the world?
AE: I hate it. In news reports Ramallah does not resemble itself. It just looks like a war zone. And it is one but it also has sides that news crews always miss. By missing its nice alleyways, its people sitting in cafes trying to seek normality, Ramallah becomes an abnormal space. By abnormalising it, it becomes acceptable to viewers to watch Ramallah being destroyed. After all it is a space that doesn't resemble their towns and cities.

BBC Four: How do you see the future of Ramallah?
AE: Two weeks ago I would have answered very differently. Ramallah's social make up has always made it a very special town. It has a mixture of Christian and Muslims; it has always been a place that celebrated and accepts differences. The future of Ramallah used to be very promising. It seemed like a place where culture and thoughts could easily develop and flourish. Now I do not know how to think toward Ramallah.

More than two weeks ago, the Israeli army invaded Ramallah. All the roads to Ramallah have been blocked and the city has since been under curfew. I was in Germany attending a festival at the time. I have not been able to return, and I am now stuck in Jordan. I call home every day. Friends tell me that there is complete destruction to the city. The Israelis will eventually leave Ramallah but I do not know how will we be able to get over what has happened.

At this point I have no vision of the future.

The Storyville film The Settlers shows another side of life on the West Bank, from the perspective of Jewish settlers in Hebron.