MY TERRORIST
Yulie Cohen Gerstel, Israel, 2002
Thursday 2 December 2004 10pm-11pm
In 1978 Yulie Cohen-Gerstel was a victim of a terrorist attack by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Years later she tries to free one of the terrorists from jail.
Yulie Cohen Gerstel's film is a mixture of things: an autobiographical video-diary, a reach back into her own past and a compelling, tragic vision of what it means to be an Israeli these days.
Her story begins in 1978, when as a young stewardess working for El-Al, she was shot in a London street by a terrorist. Another stewardess was killed, and Yulie suffered lasting trauma from the event. The terrorist was given a life sentence and placed in Dartmoor.
Over the years Yulie began to look at her own story in a different light. Was it right that Israel should maintain their society in a state of permanent conflict? Was the attitude of never forgiving (and rarely meeting) Arabs such a good thing?
The film recounts her own slow transformation from sceptic to campaigner. It's all the more strong because of the linkage that Yulie makes between her public activities and her family life. If that's not enough, watch the film for a glimpse of her very beautiful daughters and the attempt they are making as teenagers to live a normal life in Tel Aviv.