L’Espoir voilé

In L'espoir voilé, Norma Marcos portrays five Palestinian women from the Gaza strip and the West Bank, among whom Hanane Ashrawi, who was a long-time representative of the PLO in the peace negotiations with Israel. Marcos did not want to limit herself to a single woman's portrait, because the "comprehensiveness and complexity of the subject matter make that impossible". The five women were selected on emotional grounds and because all five of them were "honest and ambitious, committed to their land, and breaking down Palestinian and Israeli taboos". Marcos considers them representative examples of Palestinian women. The film accompanies these conscious Palestinian women in their resistance against the Israelis and reveals their desire to keep the Palestinian history alive. They also express their views on the rise of islamic fundamentalism. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)