Even getting arrested for filming in the West Bank didn't stop Hilla Medalia.
Medalia, an Israeli documentary filmmaker, spoke about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after screening her film "To Die In Jerusalem" at UF's College of Journalism and Communications' Documentary Institute on Monday night.
The film follows the mother of Rachel Levy, a 17-year-old Israeli girl who was killed in a Jerusalem market bombing in 2002, and her quest to speak with the mother of Palestinian female suicide bomber Ayat al-Akhras, who was Rachel's killer.
"It's a real microcosm of the conflict," Medalia said. "It's hard to listen to politicians, but it's easy to listen to mothers."
With the power of reaching millions of viewers on television, the film serves as a vehicle for social change and to create a dialogue, she said.
"As a filmmaker, there are so many obstacles in making that film, and the result is poignant and riveting," said Churchill Roberts, co-director of the Documentary Institute.
The film, which took more than four years to finish, was her student thesis project for her master's degree at Southern Illinois University.
"To me, that's really inspiring because I'm working on my thesis right now," said Ana Habib, a second-year student at the Documentary Institute.
The HBO filmmaker won a Peabody Award in 2007 and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008.
"Don't do a student film," Medalia said. "Shoot really high because it's possible."
