St. Jean

By the law of return, every Jew has the right to settle in Israel. From the day it was established, the state of Israel has actively encouraged Jews to emigrate to Israel. In the past three years, waves of immigrants have arrived mainly from the former USSR and from Ethiopia. As a temporary housing solution, the government established trailer camps where today more than 50,000 people are housed. ST. JEAN –a caravan site along the shore—is one of them. A film crew spent some time there capturing the dreams, hopes, disappointments and loneliness of those who live in such camps. The film brings to light little known facets of the kind of life experienced by many of the inhabitants of ST. JEAN: in addition to the difficulties of language and culture, they must confront alienation, isolation and racism in their relationships with each other and with the wider society surrounding them.At the Jerusalem Film Festival, St. Jean won a best documentary award.