Three Promises | Freedom Talk: Does Our Voice Matter? Lessons from International Solidarity Movements Against War and Genocide.

Three Promises (2023)

‘Three Promises’ is the story of a mother and her camera, a son and his suppressed memories, and about an entire country. Director Yousef Srouji shows the staggering beauty of a mother’s love blending the voices of the present with impressive family footages to complete the story begun by his mother Suha. At the start of 2000 while the Israeli army is retaliating against the second intifada in the West Bank, Suha films her daily family life punctuated by frequent trips underground and overwhelmed by the anguish of her two young children. She promises God that she would leave if they could survive. In 2017 her son, (the director of this film), discovers this archive which recorded the daily life of suffering, a stolen childhood, and Suha’s hope for change, and burdened by the impossible choice between physical safety and emotional upheaval.

• Runtime: 61 mins
• Country: Palestine
• Film Language: Arabic
• Subtitle Language: English, Malay

“Will elicit an avalanche of emotion from even the most unsusceptible viewers.” - The Cinephile Fix

Director

Yousef Srouji

Yousef is a first time documentary filmmaker and longtime storyteller. His work centers around understanding the dynamics of occupation in Palestine, and community resilience in conflict zones. He holds a Master of Development Practice from UC Berkeley and hopes to use his skills to aid and empower marginalized communities in the Middle East. Yousef spent the first part of his childhood in Palestine, then relocated to Qatar with his family in the midst of the Second Intifada. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he earned a BA in Economics. He has been a fellow with the SFFilm Catapult Documentary Fellowship, received production and post-production grants from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), and has been a fellow with the Gotham Documentary Feature Lab (formerly IFP Documentary Lab.)