ia_2011_c_carter

=Evaluation of Sources (250-400 words) Tips]=

** C. Evaluation of sources ** Source 1//: Death in Gaza// Directed by James Miller (2004) [See Appendix 1] This could be considered as a valuable source as it is a documentary extracted from real life situations. The film focuses on children who experience the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. James Miller’s work is reliable to the extent that he aimed to show an ‘unbiased’ version of the events by narrating a factual story of the children [1]. The film’s main purpose is to show the audience what it is like to live the life of an ordinary Palestinian child.

Nevertheless, the film also has limitations. One of them, in terms of origins, is that it does not show “both sides” of the conflict, thus becoming naturally biased. Miller intended to have one part of the film dedicated to the Palestinian children and the second part to the Israeli children. Unfortunately, Miller was shot down in Gaza; the ‘Israeli side’ of the film was abandoned due to his death. This limitation means that "the story isn't finished" [2] making the film a rather one-sided or biased one. In terms of purpose this film was made to shock audiences with reality. It starts with a “disturbing scene of the aftermath of an illegal extrajudicial assassination." [3] During the film, Miller concentrated on providing more of a 'human angle' as opposed to the long-term historical context that this short documentary fits within. In this sense; it only proposes a snippet of a large conflict which has spun over 60 years. The intention was not to produce a factual account of Palestinian-Israeli conflict events (such as the 6-Day War etc) but rather to show the effects that conflict has on people, especially children.

[1] One of his friends claimed, “[Miller] was one of the finest journalistic talents I have ever known...[he was] one of the greatest documentary makers of his generation." – A short biography of James Miller's life and work – Keane, Fergal (21/10/10) []  [2] (03:51) // Death in Gaza // – Shia (narrator of the film) says "James had planned a film about Israeli children too, so the story isn't finished"   [3] A review on //Death in Gaza// – Kattan, Victor (21/10/10) []