Film Screening: The Wanted 18

Humorous and thought-provoking, this award-winning animated documentary directed by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan, looks at the Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared “a threat to the national security….”.

It’s 1987 and the Israeli army is in hot pursuit of eighteen dairy cows in the town of Beit Sahour in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The cows are declared a threat to Israel’s national security after a group of Palestinians begin producing milk for the town’s residents. These newly minted dairy farmers have to learn the most basic skills—even just how to milk the cows! But they are determined to be a model of self-reliance and provide their community with alternatives to replace Israeli goods.

The Wanted 18 shows the power of mass mobilization and nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation during the First Intifada – an era too-often simplistically depicted with stone-throwing Palestinian youth facing armed soldiers. This is a poignant film about nation-building from the bottom up, by the people not the politicians.

Winner of Best Documentary at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

Canada/France/Palestine | 75 minutes | 2014 | Arabic, Hebrew and English with English Subtitles