Blood Relation (2009)

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Two families divided by religion and nationality have to decide if they can come together in this documentary from filmmaker Noa Ben Hagai. In the early 1940s, Pnina was a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl living with her family in the territory that would become Israel by the end of the decade. When… More Two families divided by religion and nationality have to decide if they can come together in this documentary from filmmaker Noa Ben Hagai. In the early 1940s, Pnina was a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl living with her family in the territory that would become Israel by the end of the decade. When Pnina disappeared, her family was understandably upset, and their anxieties were never entirely resolved as the girl failed to return. It wasn't until years later that Pnina's family found out what became of her -- according to letters from Pnina, she married an Palestinian man and they had a family, though she's never said for sure if she was abducted or ran away of her own free will. When Ben Hagai leaned the remarkable story of his great-aunt Pnina, he wanted to make a film about her story and see if her two families could be united. While Pnina's uncle, a former Israeli intelligence agent, is eager at first to help bring about a reunion, what begins as a cordial meeting between Israeli and Palestinian families becomes tense years later when the Palestinians begin asking for financial assistance and Israeli work visas, and they're reminded both families have soldiers in their respective armies who may well meet on the battlefield some day. Blood Relation was an official selection at the 2009 Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi