Arna's Children

2004

1h 24m

Documentary

List

67%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

97%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

When Israeli soldier Arna Mer-Khamis marries Palestinian Saliba Khamis in the 1950s, she becomes an activist for Palestinian human rights. Moving to Jenin, a city in the Palestinian West Bank, Arna opens a theater center for children. This documentary shows her work from 1989 to 1996, then returns in 2002 after Arna's death to see how the children she mentored turned out. Many of them are dead, having turned to violent militancy after years of frustration with Israeli occupation.

Manohla Dargis

New York Times

A subject as complex as this demands greater rigor, deeper intelligence and a sense of dialectics.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 8, 2004

Full Review

John Anderson

Newsday

It feels patronizing and self-important.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 8, 2004

Full Review

Robert Dominguez

New York Daily News

What begins as a routine documentary about a children's theater group in a Palestinian refugee camp soon turns into a haunting chronicle on the tragic toll of war.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 8, 2004

Full Review

David Sterritt

Christian Science Monitor

Contains amazingly candid views of warriors behind the scenes of battle.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 21, 2004

Full Review

Maria Garcia

Film Journal International

Somewhere in Khamis' abstruse footage there's a documentary, but Arna's Children only provides glimpses of it.

Oct 19, 2004

Full Review

Ken Fox

TV Guide

The film is both a fitting elegy for Arna and the children she tried to help and a deeply disturbing warning about what will continue to breed within the occupied territories until peace is brought to Palestine.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 8, 2004

Full Review

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walter m

To start, this is a documentary about Arna Mer-Khamis who was born Jewish in Galilee and later married a Palestinian man. She would go on to fight for Palestinian rights, using some of the prize money from an Alternate Nobel Peace Prize to fund a theater for the children of the occupied territories. But even as her health faded, her spirit of resistance never did, even going out to protest right after chemotherapy treatments. Later, her legacy would be so complicated that the only place to bury her would be a Kibbutz. And that's where her son Juliano enters the picture as he returns to the former theatre after her death to see what happened to her former pupils. Sadly, none of the news is good, as he arrives just after a blockade has been lifted by Israel but while the fighting still continues. So, as he is on hand to get first hand scenes of the devastation, we also get a sense of how futile an armed struggle is against Israel. In the end, "Arna's Children" evokes and provokes strong emotions, seamlessly weaving together footage shot in different times and places.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Begins like a fairytale, ends like a nightmare. A true story. I'd like everybody to see it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Everyone should see this movie. The stories from Palestine need to be heard.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A clear true life story with a touching story behind the lives of palestinian kids that are influenced by the enviroment around them. It is essential viewing to keep yourself down to earth and to remind you of current events that are simply destroying lives.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Amazing amazing film

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the best documentaries on the situation in the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories. A must see.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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Juliano Mer-Khamis

Director

Danniel Danniel

Director

Juliano Mer-Khamis

Writer

Danniel Danniel

Writer

Osnat Trabelsi

Producer

Pieter van Huystee

Producer

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Synopsis

When Israeli soldier Arna Mer-Khamis marries Palestinian Saliba Khamis in the 1950s, she becomes an activist for Palestinian human rights. Moving to Jenin, a city in the Palestinian West Bank, Arna opens a theater center for children. This documentary shows her work from 1989 to 1996, then returns in 2002 after Arna's death to see how the children she mentored turned out. Many of them are dead, having turned to violent militancy after years of frustration with Israeli occupation.

Director: Juliano Mer-Khamis, Danniel Danniel
Producer: Osnat Trabelsi, Pieter van Huystee
Screenwriter: Juliano Mer-Khamis, Danniel Danniel
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Arabic
Runtime: 1h 24m