The film is subtitled in Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Czech, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Synopsis
Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.
We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also witness Dr. Gabor Maté offer trauma-healing work to a group of women who were tortured in Israeli prisons.
Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.
This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
Thank you for listening to your heart and for bringing Where Olive Trees Weep to the world. It has been so purposeful and loving.
We saw it yesterday and it’s the most heartbreaking film I have ever seen. It’s simple, educational, and so real that we were shocked and hurt. It’s an eye-opener.
This film is educational and incredibly moving. I bawled like a child while watching, but what I learned inspires my actions now every day.
I will never be the same after watching the movie.
Watched the movie. Amazing work. I now know, and I cannot unknow.
It was riveting and devastating, poignant and beautiful. I cannot find words to express my gratitude for the film Where Olive Trees Weep.
I cried and felt so ashamed of the world we are living in. My greatest peace wishes, love and light and courage are for all people who are suffering now. I carry them with me in my heart.
Thank you, so unsettling and informative which is exactly what is needed.
Brilliant, heartbreaking, infuriating and informative. Thank you for making such an excellent film
I thought I was informed but this took it to a new level. Brilliant movie, amazing women.
One of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Thank you for your immeasurable courage and your talent. It’s a very important film.
So moving, terrible and also beautiful. This is a great blessing.
Words are inadequate but the soul of the people — all those involved — and the soul of the film itself will never leave me. Thank you all for making it in this deeply troubled world.
Thank you for this powerful film. The world needs it now, more than ever!
After watching it, my heart remained open. I was filled with love and compassion… It was just unconditional love.
Thank you for your courage. Just like oil that doesn’t mix with water, Truth doesn’t dissolve in lies and, sooner or later, it comes up to the surface.
Stunning pictures, evocative music, and poignant portraits of people. It truly felt as though these people were right in my living room. Your documentary moved me to tears from beginning to end.
I know I will not sleep tonight. So many tears. This is so heart-breaking and so educational and so important to be seen NOW!
Thank you for this incredible film/documentary — it broke my heart.
Brilliant, extraordinarily moving, tragic, and hopeful, at the same time. It opened up a new understanding for me.
Thank you for filming, for journaling, for exposing the truth… as difficult as it is to swallow. Bravery, courage… to all who fight against injustice and oppression!
Beautifully done. Drastic humanity. Made me shiver.
It’s impossible to adequately convey how beautiful, powerful and profoundly empathetic your film is. You have accomplished something art often strives for but rarely achieves – to create a work of beauty that also moves the viewer to action. This film is going to have an actual effect. You’re going to help change things. It’s remarkable.
Wow, the movie is really a piece of art!!! What about subtitles in Hebrew? It is really necessary.
I’m currently visiting my very elderly ex-British Army/ expat colonial parents in the UK, and we sat down together to watch your film. You not only changed their minds about Palestine (which my ancestors were a part of bringing about) but also their view of Muslims and Palestinians generally. Thank you.
My heart swells with love for the gift of the movie. My hope is that people’s hearts will open when the truth is spoken.
Your film is brilliant, moving, epic. It contains history and it bears witness.
It had me in tears. It broke my heart… It’s a really great film and it’s going to open hearts and minds all over the world.
So powerful and heartbreaking and moving…
I can hardly find words. It’s powerful and the woman, the main person, especially at the end — she was piercing. Soul piercing. This film needs very wide circulation.
I wept uncontrollably for an hour, am still affected by it … What a beautiful, challenging, gut wrenching movie you have made. It was not an easy watch, there were parts i couldn’t bear, and i had to stop in the middle after the stories of torture. Bless you for your brave work, what incredible timing for a world gone mad. May it travel the world shifting minds and opening hearts everywhere, and most of all may all involved in its making be protected.
I have watched many documentaries over the years on this context and this one is the most authentic and raw I have seen. It is also very beautiful.
I was finally able to watch your film, and have to congratulate you on such a moving documentary that sheds light on what life is like for Palestinians living under occupation, with many different aspects and viewpoints. I hope your film will awaken many people around the world and open their eyes.
Left weeping… Devastated to think about each of these beautiful little girls and boys, women and men, animals, buildings and trees now. It’s hard to find words. Thank you for taking the risk of making this powerful, esthetical, real and tender film. May it be a vehicle to stir the hearts and souls of many of us into action. Deep bow.
I cannot remember when a film has moved me this way. I wept throughout. No one is free until we all are free.
I would like to extend my eternal gratitude for your work. The film is beautiful, and all the contributors are such authentic, refreshing, impassioned voices. In the midst of all the ongoing global horrors and escalation of violence, I was enormously uplifted upon discovering your website, the film and talks on Palestine.
Your film was riveting. While you didn’t shy away from the horrors of the Occupation, you also explored the pain, the heart, and the humanity of Palestinians and Israelis. You saw the trauma that both people face. Not an easy journey. Not easy to unearth.
I cried and cried, it’s so healing to have a witness and to be heard and acknowledged, while ignorance creates a perfect atmosphere for wounds to get inflamed. At the same time my soul has never been more alive watching it.
the complete collection
Conversations on Palestine
We created a program with leading historians, spiritual teachers, trauma therapists, poets and performers to complement the themes explored in the film and provide a larger historical, cultural and social context to the plight of the Palestinian people.
The collection includes
2-year access to the items below:
- Film Where Olive Trees Weep
- 23 conversations on Palestine with leading historians, spiritual teachers, trauma therapists, poets and performers
- 4 extended interviews with film characters
- Recording of the Oakland Q&A with Dr. Gabor Maté and Ashira Darwish
- A film discussion guide
- 6 SAND community conversations on Palestine
~ THE SPEAKERS ~
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Ashira Darwish
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Dr. Gabor Maté
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Angela Davis, PhD
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V
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Tara Brach, PhD
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Haneen Sabbah
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Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
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Zaya Benazzo
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Maurizio Benazzo
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Dr. Rupa Marya
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Mariam Barghouti
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Sami Awad
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Farah El-Sharif, PhD
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Haidar Eid
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Daniel Foor, PhD
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Sherene Seikaly, PhD
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Tareq Hajjaj
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Mohammad Bakri
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Ayesha Kajee
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Shahd Abusalama, PhD
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Farah Siraj
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Faith Gay
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Ussama Makdisi, PhD
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Jonathan Brenneman
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Rev. Michael Yoshii
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Iyad Abu Ruk
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Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
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Umaymah Mohammad
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Nancy Mansour
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Farah Chamma
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Lara Elborno
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Rev. Deborah Lee
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Nathan Thrall
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Rae Abileah
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Baha Hilo
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Omar Dajani
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Shadi Zaqtan
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Norman Finkelstein, PhD
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Daniel Maté
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meital yaniv
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Huwaida Arraf
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Gail Brenner, PhD
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Mays Imad, PhD
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Robert Inlakesh
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Neta Golan
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Ilan Pappé, PhD
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Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart
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Adel Iskandar
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Pir Zia Inayat Khan, PhD
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Maysa Daw
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Seemi Bushra Ghazi
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Omar Haramy
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Adéyínká Mendes
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Bayo Akomolafe, PhD
Your contribution supports planting olive trees in Palestine, humanitarian aid in Gaza and trauma healing in Palestinian communities. It also helps us bring the movie to larger audiences and broaden the understanding of the situation in Palestine, along with the cycles of trauma that perpetuate it.
