Children of Shatila

Review by Courtney Blankenship

The short:

Told from the viewpoint of two children growing up in Beirut’s Palestinian Shatila refugee camp, this documentary follows Farah and Issa as they go through everyday life in the camp and talk to family and community members about their experiences.

The long:

Released in 1998, this short documentary showcases the innocence of childhood against a backdrop of generational trauma resulting from war, displacement, and poverty as the children in the documentary speak with family members and community members about loss and grief while living in a refugee camp that has experienced a horrific siege, massacre, and starvation. The children take the camera with them as they talk to their friends, make memories, and navigate the reality of their situations. Their families try to protect them from difficult information while also realizing that they will not be able to shield their children from pain forever.

To watch or not to watch:

This documentary was great, but it was very difficult to watch because the innocence of the children in the film provides a stark contrast to the horrors that their families have endured through the generations. There seemed to be a kind of sadness to the children even as they interacted playfully with their friends– and although they may have been too young to fully understand the history and significance of the refugee camp, as well as how it came to host a population of more than 14,000 people, the children were still able to recount the family members they had lost through violence because they had heard the stories and had grown up being shaped by the devastation around them. The documentary is tough to watch, but it depicts a harsh reality that many people may not be familiar with, and it provides a helpful glimpse into everyday life for people in the Shatila Refugee Camp.