A mother films her family’s life while sheltering from Israel’s attacks during the Second Intifada in the West Bank in the documentary Three Promises. In 2017, almost 20 years later, her son filmmaker Yousef Srouji discovered her archive of home footage.

Release Date

Directed by Yousef Srouji, Three Promises world premiered at Visions du Réel 2023, followed by the US premiere at Camden International Film Festival 2023 where it won the Harrell Award for Best Documentary; and will open in theaters on May 10, 2024.

Synopsis

Three Promises is the story of a mother and her camera, of a son and his suppressed memories, and of an entire country. At the start of the 2000s, while the Israeli army is retaliating against the second intifada in the West Bank, Suha films her daily family life, punctuated by frequent trips underground and overwhelmed by the anguish of her two young children. At every moment of intense danger, she promises God that she will leave if they survive.

In 2017, her son, the director of this film, discovers this archive and reconnects with this suppressed past, wondering with his mother what drove her to record a daily life of suffering, a stolen childhood, and why she delayed fleeing, paralyzed by the hope for change and burdened by the impossible choice between physical safety and emotional upheaval. While on the surface there emerges the heartrending portrait of everyday life in times of war, it is the staggering beauty of a mother’s love that is revealed between the lines.

Blending the voice of the present with impressive family footage, Yousef completes the story begun by Suha, thus averting the act of forgetting, both personal and collective.

“This film, Three Promises, is my way of processing this time together and fulfilling my mother’s original wish: that the experience her family and community went through be shared with the world. To do that I sat with my mother and recorded multiple conversations about her memories from that time, her intentions, dreams and more. And that wasn’t at all easy. My mother was never very open about this subject, but this time was different. With the footage finally out in the open and in front of us she began to share how she was really feeling. The film brings together her home footage and these conversations to tell an interwoven story about a mother’s struggle between staying with her family in her hometown and making the difficult decision to immigrate.” – director Yousef Srouji.

Official Trailer

Watch the official trailer for Three Promises.