Sonia Nettnin Film Review: And Life Goes On

“And Life Goes On” is a short video of Director Reem Bader walking on two chairs throughout her daily life.

She climbs out of bed and walks on the chairs… she even waters her garden from the chairs. Her distance from the ground is a detachment from the land. While in downtown Canterbury, England, she drags down the street with her feet on the chairs. People stare at her. Does displacement make people stand out in other societies?

When I first saw her walking on the chairs, my initial reaction was that dispossession forces a person to live her life at a different pace, slower than the people around her. The drag of the chairs changes her conception of time and movement. While she lives away from home, her daily tasks have minimal importance.

Despite mass expulsion and the feelings Palestinians in the Diaspora carry with them, they continue living their lives gracefully.

Written, filmed, edited, and directed by: Reem Bader
Country of Production: England/Palestine
Year: 2004
Length: 8 minutes

Sonia Nettnin is a freelance writer. Her articles and reviews demonstrate civic journalism, with a focus on international social, economic, humanitarian, gender, and political issues. Media coverage of conflicts from these perspectives develops awareness in public opinion.

She is a poet, a violinist and she studied professional dance. As a writer, the arts are an integral part of her sensibility. Her work has been published in the Palestine Chronicle, Scoop Media and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. She lives in Chicago.

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