The Palestinian director Michael Khalifi’s film al Jawaher al Thalatha (The Three Jewels) which was screened at the Palestinian Cinema Week held recently in Kuwait, tells the story of a 12-year-old Palestinian child who lives in the refugee camps in Gaza strip, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Yousif lives with his mum and sister, while his brother is being chased by the Israeli special army units and his father has been imprisoned for several years. This Palestinian child was able to overcome the agony and poverty surrounding his life through going bird hunting and imagining he is flying with the birds away from the reality of his daily life that imposes on him to take responsibility of his mum and sister despite his young age.
Yousif met Aydhah, a gypsy girl who is living in the legends of her grandmother and she tells her friends stories of what is going on in her dreamy world, away from reality. Yousif's dream becomes getting married to Aydhah, who agreed to marry him on the condition that he brings her three lost jewels that are now in Latin America.
This lie became Yousif's dream. The innocent child asks all those around him where is Latin America located? How can someone get there? How can the people leave Palestine to travel and how much does the ticket cost?
The dreamy boy, who refuses anyone's sympathy and does not wish to visit his father in prison as he does not want to see his father in such a condition, decides to travel along with a shipment of orange boxes. As he is hiding in the boxes, Aydhah tells his family her fairytale as her tears are falling, the fairytale that changed the life of Yousif and his dream.
Everyone is waiting for the siege imposed on them by the israeli forces to be lifted so they can start looking for Yousif, where as he gets out of the box, he surprises a group of israeli soldiers and so they opened fire at him.
After his family reach Yousif, he discovers that Aydhah's necklace has no missing jewels and everything he has been told is an illusion and that the jewels are in his land and among his family, not far from the Palestinian land.
The film al Jawaher al Thalatha is a joint Palestinian – Belgian - British production. The shooting took place in Gaza strip in 1994 – Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
