Abstract
This article examines how the award winning film Salt of This Sea (2008) responds to dominant gendered representations of Arab and Palestinian identity. The choice of this film is based on its significance as a contemporary cinematic text that aims to present alternative portrayals to those prevalent in the media. Furthermore, Annemarie Jacir is the first Palestinian female filmmaker to make a full-length feature film. The film puts a courageous female character (Soraya—played by Suheir Hammad) at the center of its narrative. It refreshingly departs from inflicting a male gaze on the lead female actor. Salt of This Sea responds to the dominant construction of Arab and Muslim women as passive with the portrayal of a determined heroine. In regard to portrayals of masculinity, the film attempts to challenge the core stereotype of Palestinian men as violent. Overall, the film is part of a movement to re-write a collective history, but it depicts dimensions of Palestinian history that are seldom shown in the mainstream media.
Highlights
How is Annemarie Jacir’s film Salt of This Sea situated vis-à-vis historical and contemporary dominant images and discourses of Palestinian identity? Released in 2008, the film stars Suheir Hammad in the role of Soraya, a Brooklyn-born woman of Palestinian parentage who heads to Palestine for the first time in her life
When her dream of “return” to her homeland is fulfilled, she is confronted with the daily realities of living under occupation. She begins to understand her own privilege as an American citizen when she enters into relationships with Palestinians living in Ramallah and, through her romantic involvement with Emad (Saleh Bakri), a Palestinian from the refugee camps who dreams of moving to Canada
The film places a determined heroine at the center of its narrative in opposition to more common representations, including the infamous figure of the oppressed veiled female in need of saving. It attempts to reverse the understanding of criminality in the Middle East and to challenge the notion of an inherently violent Arab man
Summary
Released in 2008, the film stars Suheir Hammad in the role of Soraya, a Brooklyn-born woman of Palestinian parentage who heads to Palestine for the first time in her life. When her dream of “return” to her homeland is fulfilled, she is confronted with the daily realities of living under occupation. The plot revolves around Soraya’s decision to recuperate the money belonging to her grandfather, whose bank savings were frozen when he was exiled in 1948. She does not define this as theft; she clearly states that she is taking back what belongs to her. With the help of her two new “friends,” Emad and Marwan (Riyad Ideis), Soraya plans a “robbery,” and, subsequently, they all escape to the sea with her grandfather’s savings
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