Director Yun Suh shoots on the scene of City of Borders
City
of Borders is a 2009 documentary film that accompanies
viewers along an intimate journey into the world of Shushan, the only gay bar in Jerusalem. Welcoming all patrons
regardless of nationality or religion, the bar becomes a lifeline of support
and community amidst a society where life is often defined by a daily struggle
against hatred and intolerance. A daring documentary that takes on numerous complex issues with consistent
sensitivity, City of Borders looks at
how each individual strives for acceptance and belonging—sometimes literally
risking everything in order to live with freedom and integrity.
Director Yun Suh, who emigrated to the
United States from South Korea as a child, became drawn to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict while on assignment in the region as a radio and
television broadcaster. Having grown up being taught to fear the neighboring
country of North Korea, and also learning from her parents about the suffering
imposed by Japanese colonization, she has been able to understand the
sentiments of both Israelis and Palestinians. Amidst the reality of these
divisions and tensions, City of Borders offers a vision of something different: a
community that comes together in order to find its common humanity.
Kimberly Hughes: The opening scene of the film, where Palestinian bar-goer Boody
makes an illegal nighttime border crossing into Jerusalem from the West Bank
city of Ramallah in order to reach Shushan,
captures the intensity and danger of the moment while also portraying a hint of
playfulness as he prepares to strut his stuff later on that night. As an
opener, the scene is absolutely brilliant. Did you know straight away that this
is how you would lead into the film?
Yun
Suh: No. When it came time to selecting the film’s
opener, it was down to two potential scenes: the border crossing, and something
more traditional, such as a montage of day shots in Jerusalem that reveal the
numerous borders confining the Holy City. In documentaries, you always want to
hook the audience within the first four minutes, while also setting the tone
for the rest of the film. I wanted to hit the ground running without delaying
the film with the backstory, and so I decided to open with Boody's illegal
nighttime crossing from Ramallah to Jerusalem, where he crawls through barbed
wire and climbs the separation wall to reach the gay bar. This scene also
provides a stark contrast with the one that follows, where Adam (an Israeli) is
able to drive easily through the checkpoint and joke around with the soldiers
while on his way to Shushan.
KH: Actually, I think you are able to hook the audience within the
first four seconds with this scene,
not minutes!
YS: Thanks. It was important for me to create a cinematic look with
this story, because I wanted to portray this community—who has been demonized
as "ugly and nasty"—in a beautiful way in order to show the audience
that they can find beauty in unexpected places. To do this, I shot the
documentary in 24 frames-per-second rather than the usual 30, which tend to
create flatter, news-like images.
KH: You seemed to do a very good job remaining “neutral” despite the
extreme sensitivity surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Did you have
a hard time winning over the trust of any of the participants, who were afraid
you might not understand or be on “their side”?
YS: Actually, I did receive criticism from some Jewish Israeli gay
activists when they heard that I would have Palestinian participants appear in
the documentary. Due to the strong anti-gay sentiment existing in the
Palestinian community, the Israeli activists believed that I may have been compromising
the safety of the Palestinians. Everyone was aware of the potential dangers,
though, and participated in the documentary fully of their own will. I also
took all necessary precautions, such as waiting to release the film until Boody
had left Palestine for the United States. In fact, Samira (a
Palestinian-Israeli lesbian who appears in the documentary) felt that this sort
of concern on the part of the Jewish Israelis was actually somewhat offensive
and patronizing; as if she was incapable of making her own choices.
KH: Were there ever any moments of danger with authorities while you
were making the documentary?
YS: Yes. There’s one scene where Boody's friend peels back a hole in
fence a brightly lit section of the Israel-Palestine border to cross over into
Jerusalem. Normally we would have taken a route that is longer and safer, but
they were late for a drag performance that night at Shushan. We were caught by the Israeli Border Patrol and turned
over to the Israeli police, but luckily for us, the Israeli police officer was
not fluent in English. He ended up thinking that Boody was a Western tourist
because of his facility with English and his tight clothes and earrings, which
is an uncommon look among Palestinians. It was a close call.
KH: The scene where Samira and her Israeli lover Ravit discuss how
they have confronted issues of the occupation bleeding into their own
relationship—and how they have tried to overcome this in order to base their
relationship on the values of love and respect—is immensely powerful and
inspiring for many reasons. Can you comment any further on this? Also, do you
get a sense that there are other couples out there who are similar to this one?
YS: First of all, finding any Palestinian-Israeli couple at
all—whether gay or straight—is kind of like trying to find a unicorn. With just
a few exceptions, it feels like they simply don’t exist. Samira and Ravit, who
have managed to come to a place of love and understanding in their own
relationship despite all of the mistrust and propaganda that is out there on
both sides, give an immense amount of hope.
Every country—not only Israel—must confront
this question of how to approach difference. Do you continue to hate and fear
it, or do you learn to respect it? Because Samira and Ravit have done the
latter in Israel, their relationship truly models what their country could look
like when based upon tolerance and co-existence.
KH: Adam, an Israeli, seems to have quite conflicted views. In the
scene where he is inspecting his fenced off backyard at his home on an
Israeli settlement, which faces a neighboring Palestinian village, he says, “We
need a wall in order to separate us from our neighbors.” When he later sees a
dog crawl underneath it, however, he remarks, “Animals don’t know borders…we
should learn from them.” Do you feel this is indicative of a larger tension in
Israel?
YS: Definitely. Adam speaks to the contradiction that defines Israeli
society: he wants peace, but he refuses to give up his privilege to achieve it.
There is a tremendous amount of fear in Israel toward Palestinians, and Adam
thinks that having this fence around his home and his city will protect him. He
does not understand that the fence is in fact caging him in, however, because
his own freedom in fact depends on that of the Palestinians. His failure to understand
this connection between himself and others whom he perceives as different
prevents him from being able to transcend barriers.
KH: Given these tensions, as well as the violent homophobia that is
also portrayed in the documentary, Shushan
seems to be the one place where people can come together and escape from the
problems and dangers around them. The scene where an Israeli bar-goer chokes up
while saying “I realized when I entered this bar that my previous views had all
been based on hate…only here would it have been possible for me to meet and
kiss a Palestinian” is immensely poignant. Do you feel that this bar is the
only place where this kind of understanding can flourish? Or are there other
sources of hope?
YS: Actually I think that Shushan
serves as a kind of metaphor. Yes, it represents the ideal…but what I tried to
do in this documentary is to show how everyone is actually engaged in their own
struggle to find their own places of belonging and acceptance. I also try to
end the film in a positive way, by showing how each person has somehow embarked
on a new journey to maintain their full humanity in accordance with whatever
personal struggles they may be facing.
KH: Was there any particular underlying theme or motivation that
inspired you to make this film?
YS: Well, my hope is that after seeing the documentary, people will
start to think about the matter of the mental, physical and cultural barriers
that might be preventing us from having a real connection with others who are
different from us.
Having moved to the United States when I
was eight years old without speaking even a word of English, I know firsthand
what it feels like to be an outsider. I hope that people will start to realize
that we always have something to
learn from others and their particular worldview. I also think that the people
appearing in the documentary are amazing teachers about how to be true to
yourself, even against all odds. The purpose of City of Borders is to honor the spirit of their tremendous courage.
For more information about City of Borders and a schedule of
international screenings, see the official website.
City of Borders Director Yun Suh
- Posted by Kimberly Hughes
