Film: A State of Passion

For tonight, I found what looked like an amazing film.. A State of Passion is a documentary about British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, and his work in Palestine - and for all the horrors it shows, it's also a real work of, well, love for the country. "A State of Passion" is his phrase describing Palestine. Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury - and with my membership renewed, I used it as one of my free films, and booked.

With the weather hotting up again, I was glad to walk yesterday.. unfortunately, today that wasn't a realistic option, and boy, were the buses hot - even downstairs. I was glad of a breath of fresh air as I waited in between. Having said that, I was also glad when my second bus beat Google Maps' estimate, and got me there 10 minutes earlier than predicted! Straight to GBK then, where I was well fed, and finished just in time for the film. Handily, I was also on the outside of the row - but the screening wasn't that crowded.

I suppose my main take-away from the film is the sheer resilience of the Palestinian people. Nobody doubts the suffering they've endured - but from this film, surrender simply isn't an option. This doctor - moved to tears as he speaks - describes how families perform their own triage, deciding for themselves which injured family member is to be operated on, on the basis, for example, of how many children are depending on them. Families, most of whose children have been killed in the latest raid, come with a last remaining child, begging the staff to save them..

And so the doctors are given a patient to operate on, while someone else dies in the corner. I've often wondered how they manage, on limited resources.. now we know. He showed us their equipment. White wine vinegar, to sterilise wounds. Dettol, to clean surfaces.. (I'm sure they'd be delighted at the free advertising!). He described how Gaza was the first place he performed amputations on children - sometimes without anesthetic, when the choice was to delay the operation otherwise. They bury the amputated parts in miniature coffins, with the child's name on them..

It's just as well that most of the film focuses on his life, and family, in London - how miserable a film would it otherwise have been? We meet his wife - from Gaza herself - and their two sons, the elder of whom is studying something I didn't quite catch, but it sounded legal - he said he was going back to Palestine to help. The wife tells us how, ironically, their last trip there was a month before the latest war broke out - her mother came back to London with them for a holiday, and found herself unable to return. She's currently living in Cairo - the closest she can get to her husband, who's now trapped there. His brother was killed during the making of the film..

The doctor who's the subject of the film is over and back all the time - the privilege of a European passport, I guess. And we travel with him through the bomb-blasted streets.. one of the most affecting sequences is a series of photographs of Then and Now - before bombing, and after bombing. His wife reels off a list of places that have been destroyed - all three schools she attended, a mosque.. and never mind all the hospitals. As her husband points out, Israel seems to be deliberately targeting blood banks - many of their patients are dying after operations, because of lack of blood.

And if you haven't been moved by what went before, watch out for the beautiful song they play over the closing credits - called Holm (A Dream), it's apparently a cover of an Iranian original. And it reduced me to tears, despite not understanding a word. A stunning end to a moving film. And imagine, Germany actually imposed a one-year ban on him, extended to the whole Schengen area (subsequently ruled unlawful). 

Shopped, as usual, on the way home - such handy facilities around there.

Tomorrow, also thrilled with what I found - back with CT, I have a ticket for Storehouse, a new immersive exhibition in Deptford. A topical show, it puts you in a storehouse containing all news stories since the advent of the internet, but asks you to take a stand, with rival narratives competing for dominance.

On Thursday, thinking of film again - and The Garden Cinema has a members' suggestion, Smiles of a Summer Night, a romantic comedy by Ingmar Bergman, which looks like an option. Even closer to the office than is the Curzon Bloomsbury! And I've finally bitten the bullet and taken out membership with them too.

On Friday.. well, The Hideout is off to Friday 13th Part VIII in the Prince Charles (PCC).. and the organiser offered me a free ticket. Otherwise you couldn't drag me to it, TBH. We're meeting in Victory House beforehand - no time to eat beforehand, I'll have to manage afterwards, somewhere.

On Saturday, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay - finally getting to do his Beatles walk.

Sunday, I'm managing the second half of Lomaz' weekend at Sutton Hoo - not getting to Sutton Hoo itself mind, I'm joining them in Woodbridge. Now, apart from the Stansted Express, it's a long time since I booked train tickets in the UK - and Lordy, what a palaver. Firstly, I found the cheapest on Uber - not to mention I get Uber credit on top, which is nice. Then they calculated I'd have a cheaper ticket with a split fare (thank goodness we have algorithms to figure this out for us - the UK rail network is otherwise incomprehensible!) So, it seems it works out cheaper if I get a ticket to Colchester, and another onwards from there. All in one transaction, and factored into the price. Ok fine. Finally, the final leg of the journey, from Ipswich, is by rail replacement bus - no problem, they've factored that into the ticket too. Oh, and the last going home leaves before 10pm.. one of the reasons I never want to live "just outside" London!

On Monday, back with The Hideout for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, also at the PCC. More 80s slasher fun.. this one stars Dennis Hopper. Coincides nicely with the original film - it was showing in the smaller screen, but had to move into the larger one because of demand, and is showing there right after the original - which I see some of the group are also going to! Handy for the double-bill. Anyway, the timing (to see the sequel) works for me to eat - and I've booked Bella Italia, yum..

Next Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Comedy About Spies, from the excellent Mischief Theatre. Playing at the Noel Coward Theatre. And as that isn't very far from Bella Italia.. well, I'm sure I'm not going to mind eating there twice in a row!

And on the 20th, back with TAC for A Manchester Anthem, at Riverside Studios.