Description
Since the beginning of Time and the occurrence of human endeavour, Walls have been built to protect from unwanted invasions. The Great Wall of China is maybe the most prominent example of them. But also entire towns have been surrounded by ramparts still visible today. Nowadays, some walls are build to separate people of the same land or nationality. Before its fall in 1979, the Berlin Wall would be the most famous example of them. Belfast (Northern Ireland), Nicosia (Cyprus) and Bethlehem (Palestine) are three cities divided even today by Walls of separation. Their Citizens are either denied access to certain areas of their homeland, or are subject to severe controls when crossing from one side to the other.
This film, beyond political considerations, looks at what living with walls means for the life of some residents of these three cities and observes with subtlety how it affects their daily existence. For instance, it follows in Nicosia a teacher living on one side of the wall, but teaching on the other. It observes the life of a shop owner in Bethlehem who woke up one day with the Separation Wall right next to her boutique. It looks at the work of a window cleaner whose clients live beyond the wall in Belfast….These and other cases identified within the heart of the separation issue leave us with the question what these Walls really achieve compared to what they are supposed to deliver, to all citizens concerned.
