The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (2008)

An English family fights to establish truth, justice, and accountability from the Israeli army after their son - Tom, a young photo-journalism student - is shot in the head in Gaza by an Israeli army sniper in April 2003.

Director:

Rowan Joffe

Writer:

Simon Block

Stars:

Zidane Awad, Stephen Dillane, Kerry Fox

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zidane Awad	...	Sgt. Mohammad
Stephen Dillane	...	Anthony Hurndall
Kerry Fox	...	Jocelyn Hurndall
Mark Bazeley	...	Tom Fitzalan-Howard
Jodie Whittaker	...	Sophie
Harry Treadaway	...	Billy
Matthew McNulty	...	Tom Hurndall
Gus Lewis	...	Freddy
Ziad Bakri	...	Sgt. Taysir (as Ziyad Bakri)
Amr Waked	...	Mohamed
Kika Markham	...	Alison
Michael Ronen	...	Advocate 1
Eliana Beckler	...	Advocate 2
Denise Gough	...	Michelle
Doraid Liddawi	...	Taysir's colleague 1

Storyline

After Tom Hurndall is shot in the head in Gaza, his parents Anthony and Jocelyn arrive in Israel wanting to know how it could have happened. They expect sympathy and co-operation from the Israeli authorities, but are instead met with an official explanation that fails to tally with any eye-witness accounts, and a wall of silence. When an Israeli army report attempts to whitewash the incident, the Hurndalls decide the only way to establish the truth is to launch their own investigation into the shooting, a process which brings them face to face with both the Open-Fire regulations of the Israeli army in Gaza, and the soldier who pulled the trigger.

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Plot Keywords:

gaza | palestine | israel | gaza strip | activist | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This TV movie is based on the true story of Tom Hurndall

User Reviews

More than a little one-sided

What I learned from watching "The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall":

Arabs are warm, caring, empathetic, family-loving, rational, freedom-loving people.

Jews are cold, hard, ruthless, murderous, smug bastards.

The story of this incident deserved a much better script. Since the filmmakers obviously did not know the inside story of the arrest and trial of the sniper, they felt free to just make up scenes to suit their agenda. The gum-chewing Israeli interrogator sneering as his poor Bedouin victim is literally dragged out of the room is a good example.

Ah, for the good old days, when Britain ruled the colonies and kept all these fractious little people in line!

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ellenséges területen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talkback Thames

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1