Children of Shatila

The documentary was filmed in the Shatila refugee camp. The camp lies on the edge of Beirut. Fifteen thousand people live there. Palestinians and Lebanese live side by side. The camp became known after the massacre of 1982. Siege and hunger came later. The documentary follows two children. One is Farah, who is eleven. The other is Issa, who is twelve. Each of them is given a video camera. They begin to film their own lives. What they tell becomes the story of their generation. Their grandparents left Palestine fifty years before. The children film the streets of the camp. School and play are recorded too. The account stands under documentary and history. Mai Masri directed the fifty minute documentary, a Lebanese production of 1998.