Ghost Hunting (2017)

Director Raed Andoni places a newspaper advertisement in Ramallah. He is looking for former inmates of the Moskobiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem. In his ad he asks that the men should... See full summary »

Director:

Raed Andoni

Stars:

Ramzi Maqdisi, Mohammed Khattab, Wafa Mari

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ramzi Maqdisi	...	Mohammed Khaleb / Himself
Mohammed Khattab	...	Abu Atta / Himself
Wafa Mari	...	The interior designer / Himself
Atef Al-Akhras	...	The set dresser / Himself
Bashar Hassuneh	...	The props master / Himself
Wadee Hanani	...	The assistant director / Himself
Raed Andoni	...	The authoritarian director / Himself
Adnan Al-Hatab	...	The 'father' and set builder / Himself
Abdallah Moubarak	...	The blacksmith / Investigator #1 / Himself
Anbar Ghannan	...	The groom / Investigator #2 / Himself
Raed Khattab	...	The cheerful prisoner / Investigator #3 / Himself
Mohammed Nimer	...	Set Builder / Policeman #1 / Himself
Mahmoud Abu Srour	...	Set Builder / Policeman #2 / Himself
Monther Jawabreh	...	The visual artist / Himself
Firas Nasr-Allah	...	Set Builder / Himself

Storyline

Director Raed Andoni places a newspaper advertisement in Ramallah. He is looking for former inmates of the Moskobiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem. In his ad he asks that the men should also have experience as craftsmen, architects or actors. After a casting process that almost feels like role play, he arranges for a replica of the centre's interrogation rooms and cells to be built to scale inside a hall - under close supervision from the former inmates and based on their memories. In this realistic setting the men subsequently re-enact their interrogations, discuss details about the prison, and express the humiliation they experienced during their detention. Using techniques that are reminiscent of the so-called 'theatre of the oppressed' they work together to dramatise their real-life experiences. Their reconstruction brings long repressed emotions and undealt with trauma to the fore. Working on the film takes its toll on the men - both physically and mentally. The director also...

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Plot Keywords:

prison | behind the scenes | palestine | reenactment | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

Palestine France Switzerland Qatar Italy

Language:

Arabic

Release Date:

22 May 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghost Hunting

Filming Locations:

Ramallah, Palestine

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films de Zayna, Les, Arte France, Akka Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Palestine for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

User Reviews

Diffiult to know where reality ends and begins...

The film begins with the director recruiting actors--particularly ex-inmates at the Israeli jail named Moskobiya. They all work together to build a reproduction of the inside of the place and later they all play roles.

Much of the movie looks like the movie of the making of the movie. And, because of this, it really takes away from the impact of the subject matter...violations of human rights in Israeli jails. I also found it VERY ironic that much of the film was financed by Abu Dhabi...a country with a horrendous record on human rights and prisoners. Plus, while I am not excusing Israeli treatment of Palestian prisoners (it's wrong and should be exposed), it made me think that the anti-Israel deflects from the problem that abuse of prisoners is NOT an isolated problem of one nation but, sadly, many.

Overall, the film is mildly interesting but could have been much, much stronger and impactful had it taken a different filmmaking approach.