Origin: Palestine | Fiction | Director: Fida Ataya | 11 minutes

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The Shepherdess

Director & Writer: Fidaa Ataya; Palestine - 2019 - 11 min.

In a rare occurrence, the sweet and the salty merge together in one single waterway to the sea.

Fidaa Ataya visualizes the story of Salty Valley and Sweet Spring in the Jordan Valley, while combining dance and animation, in order to tell the story of a shepherding and farming woman who suffers the bitter pain of ongoing loss of land and water resources.

The film is shot on location in Salty Valley and Sweet Spring, which face ongoing land and water confiscation by the occupation.

The film interweaves a folk tale with lived reality to embody how the sweet melted the saltiness of life.

Dancer - Marmar Joulani. Cast: Saqriyyah Bisharat.

A Production of Shashat Woman Cinema
©Shashat, MMXIX

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/342547340

Fact sheet on the Jordan Vally
• The Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area covers around 30% of the West Bank and is home to nearly 60,000 Palestinians.
• 87% of the land is designated as Area C, virtually all of which is prohibited for Palestinian use, earmarked instead for the use of the Israeli military or under the jurisdiction of Israeli settlements.
• An additional 7% is formally part of Area B, but is unavailable for development, as it was designated a nature reserve.
• Around one quarter of Palestinians in the area reside in Area C, and face a high risk of forced eviction.
• There are 37 Israeli settlements with a population of 9,500, established across the area in contravention of international law.
• Water consumption dips to 20 litres/capita/day in most herding communities in the area, compared to the WHO recommendation of 100 /c/d and the average settlement consumption of 300 l/c/d.

https://www.facebook.com/shashat.org/photos/pb.2119569755235182207520000.1563453883./2409907975728396/?type=3&theater

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View trailer