Miral, directed by Julian Schnabel, is based on journalist Rula Jebreal’s autobiographical novel about growing up as a Palestinian in Israel. It tells the first-hand tale of three women whose lives unfold during the first intifada, the Palestinian
Miral, directed by Julian Schnabel, is based on journalist Rula Jebreal’s autobiographical novel about growing up as a Palestinian in Israel. It tells the first-hand tale of three women whose lives unfold during the first intifada, the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation that began in 1987. Highlighting the remarkable work of a Palestinian woman named Hind Husseini – a woman who sacrifices everything to establish a school for refugee Palestinian girls in East Jerusalem and takes Miral in – the book and film show that hope still exists within a world of conflict. Bringing numerous elements of her own life into the story – Jebreal and her younger sister were taken in by Husseini after their own mother committed suicide.
Beyond the realms of the page and movie screen, Jebreal’s own life has its own happy ending: after the Oslo Accords broke down she began her new life and left for Italy, undertaking a scholarship at the University of Bologna. Later becoming the first foreign-born female journalist to read the evening news on Italian TV, Jebreal has had her own political talk show since 2003 – interviewing the likes of the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and other high-profile politicians and personalities in Europe and the Middle East. In 2005, she received Italy’s prestigious Ischia Prize for International Journalism. After Julian Schnabel first read her book in 2007, three years on Miral is now a major motion picture and they are now partners in life as well as on set.
On the eve of Miral’s UK release we speak to Jebreal about her experiences, battles, and the hope she derived from “the red flowers between the rocks”:
What initially inspired you to pen this first hand account of your experiences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
I just wanted to honour my teacher, Hind Husseini, and my father, whose love and education saved my life.
How did the idea to make Miral into a film come about?
Julian read my book in 2007, and he called me and said that he would like to make it into a movie. We immediately starting working on it, but it wasn’t until I saw it with 1,000 people at the Venice Film Festival that it became a reality.
How did you find seeing your story played out on set in real life?
Every time I watch the movie I feel that my story doesn’t belong to me anymore, it has become a universal language that touches people’s hearts and minds. Everybody that I came across empathised with the characters and understood that the movie represents a battle between ideology and humanity.
Neither the book nor film is anti-Israel – how did you manage to put across such a balanced view?
I love my country and I don’t see enemies. Even when hate and anger is rising everywhere, I learn to see the similarities and not the differences between people. This is what Miral is about, the red flowers between the rocks representing hope. If you see them once you will notice their beauty everywhere.
Do you feel your experiences motivated you to become a journalist?
I have always loved journalists since I was a little girl – I used to watch them discussing and arguing outside of the American Colony Hotel. I always thought that they were the eyes and ears of history. I knew since that early age that I wanted to be one of them and cover important events.
What do you hope that people feel after seeing your film?
I wish for people to feel love and tolerance towards others. I want people to understand that the other is the same as them, and that each drop of blood that is wasted in any war zone represents the death of humanity.
Do you have any plans for writing any more books and screenplays, or collaborating with Julian again?
I have already written three books, Miral, La Sposa di Assuan and Divieto Di Soggiorno and am working on my fourth book now. As far as collaborating with Julian is concerned, we will see.
Text by Lucia Davies
Published by Serpent’s Tail Miral, the book is out now.
Miral, the film is out now in the UK and released on 25 March, 2011 in the US.
