BorderlineOn 14 May 1948, when the British Mandate ended and the British authorities withdrew from Palestine, Ben Gurion declared the independence of the state of Israel. For the persecuted Jews, this was a long-awaited dream finally come true after the Holocaust. For the country’s Arab population, it was a disaster, the «Nakba». The conflict between the Jewish and Arab populations had escalated since the early 20th century, with rise of the Zionist movement, when a growing number of Jews, dreaming of freedom and safety in a new country, settled the former mandated territory. The birth of the state of Israel was a historic moment, which would profoundly shape the politics of the Middle East.
With the founding of the state, the region’s conflict became the «Palestine war», and many border wars, terrorist attacks, and military operations followed. The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), which considers the Israeli state illegal and denies its right to exist, was founded in 1964, followed by Hamas, which holds the same principles, in 1987. Palestine declared its independence in 1988, which led to the creation of autonomous Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip (presently ruled by Hamas) and various sections of the West Bank.
The title Borderline refers to geographical borders but also to the borderline personality disorder. The typical symptoms of this mental illness are impulsiveness, unstable yet intense interpersonal relationships, mood swings, and a volatile self-image due to impaired self-perception. These effects are also recognizable in the Middle Eastern conflict with its barely comprehensible web of strong emotions and reactions on all sides. This film programme does not attempt to take sides nor claim to offer solutions – the situation is far too complex for that. But how do people live with the borders? Borderline ponders this question with five films that look at how people deal with the situation in their daily lives – a situation with many shades of grey between simple black and white.
Curated by John Canciani and Gabriela Seidel-Hollaender
Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von: 
