It’s 1987 and the first Palestinian popular movement in the West Bank is rising. Residents want local alternatives to Israeli goods, including milk. Pacifist intellectuals and professionals – not your typical dairy farmers – become ‘lactivists,’ buying 18 cows and smuggling them into the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, only to discover they don’t even know how to milk them.
The cow’s ‘intifada milk’ is worth the learning curve though: the farm becomes a landmark and the cows local celebrities, until the Israeli authorities take note and declare the venture “dangerous for the security of the state of Israel”. The chase is on – a cat-and-mouse (or soldier-and-cow) game as the cows shuttle from barn to barn, pursued by the Israeli army.
Co-directed by Palestinian cartoonist Amer Shomali and veteran Canadian filmmaker Paul Cowan,
The Wanted 18 is told from the perspectives of Palestinian activists, Israeli military officials, and talking claymation cows.
Filmed over five years, the innovative documentary was an official selection at
Toronto Film Festival; selected as the Palestinian entry for
Best Foreign Language Film at the
Oscars; and won
Best Documentary at the
Carthage and
Traverse City film festivals.
The Wanted 18 premieres on Al Jazeera English, channel 406 on DStv at 22:00 on Thursday, 17 March. It repeats on Friday, 18 and Tuesday, 22 March at 14:00; on Saturday, 19 and Wednesday, 23 March at 03:00; on Sunday, 20 and Thursday, 24 March at 08:00; and on Monday, 21 March at 22:00.
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