May 26 , 2004
Dear Dominique,
Several weeks have passed since I saw your poem on Palestine, Palestine Remembered. It remains in my memory as vivid as when I saw it. I say « your poem » because I think it is a poem. I think it’s the best film/video that I have seen about the situation in Palestine. And also the most moving. And most political at the same time. Most of the films I’ve seen about Palestine – and political films about other issues and situations – are too propagandistic. Reporters and film-makers keep talking, telling things they want you to listen to. You say nothing: you let the images talk. And they talk. And they talk on many different levels, as only poetry can. And what’s more: you do it in a perfect piece of cinema. One sees the content and one sees and enjoys the cinema, the way you do it. The film for me works so well only because its cinematic perfection. And I am not saying this to flatter you. During the last weeks often I felt that I wanted to resee it again. Only my busy schedule prevents me from doing that. But this wish to resee it — and I will resee it — comes from the fact that it is a poem, not a journalistic piece. And that is a very very rare thing, in political cinema today. So… thanks, Dominique.
Jonas Mekas
P.S. : I just thought, that your film could be described, formally, as an elegy. Sadness an Hope. Or Hope with Sadness. Actually, it is a film wich is beautiful and horrible at the same time. The horror of the reality is same as in Goya or Guernica. Only difference is that it’s taking place now, today.