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Across the Divide
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What is Across the Divide about?

On the surface, campus life at Bethlehem University feels disarmingly familiar. And then you're reminded why this region is unlike any other.
 
Between classes, students pour into the courtyard, maybe spending a little too much time laughing and socializing. But here, each young person can recount experiences of violence and hardship. Like North American students, you can find them hastily finishing their course reading on the bus. But to commute a few miles from neighbouring East Jerusalem, students have to pass through an eight metre high concrete wall—or sometimes not pass, and wait for hours at an armed checkpoint.
 
And like a Catholic university in the West, stressed-out students will head to the chapel to pray. But in addition to typical freshman worries, Bethlehem students pray for an end to the cycle of war that haunts their city.
 
Salt + Light tells the story of Bethlehem University, the De La Salle Christian brothers who run it, and Christian students who will sacrifice everything for their education. Together, and with the intercession of St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle, they aim to build a better future for the Holy Land.


In the Media

• The B.C. Catholic: Panel tackles emotional issues of Christians in Holy Land
• The B.C. Catholic: Film crosses the Holy Land's religious divide
• The Vancouver Sun: Canadian Catholic film looks at ‘intolerance’ in Holy Land
• The B.C. Catholic: Across the Divide premieres in Vancouver
• Catholic Register: Reaching across the Israeli-Palestinian divide with SL's new documentary
• Snap, Downtown Vancouver: Across The Divide - World Premiere
• Catholic News Service: Movie Review: Across the Divide


Photo Gallery from our official screenings


Vancouver - June 3, 2012
           
Halifax - June 25, 2012
Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening
Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening Across the Divide, Halifax Screening

Toronto - September 5, 2012
Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening
Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening Across the Divide, Toronto Screening

Ottawa - September 19, 2012
Across the Divide, Ottawa Screening Across the Divide, Ottawa Screening Across the Divide, Ottawa Screening Across the Divide, Ottawa Screening


CNS: Movie Review - Across the Divide
By John Mulderig Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Few conflicts in the modern era have proved as intractable as that pitting Israelis against Palestinians. One institution caught up in this clash has been the Holy Land's Bethlehem University, a Catholic establishment open to students of all faiths.

The intriguing Canadian documentary "Across the Divide" (Salt + Light) presents a profile of the university, and shows how the lives of those associated with it have been affected by the struggle swirling around them.

Founded in 1973 with the direct, personal involvement of Pope Paul VI, and staffed by the Christian Brothers, Bethlehem University was the first seat of higher learning to be established on the West Bank. But its operations, we learn, have had to be suspended for long periods of time at the behest of the Israeli government.

And the proximity of armed conflict has not only taken its toll on the physical structures of the university's campus, but exacted casualties among its scholars as well.
Filmmakers Kris Dmytrenko (who also narrates) and Richard Valenti offer insights into the larger cultural and political situation through a handful of personal stories. The most prominent of these concerns Bethlehem University student, and Gaza Strip resident, Berlanty Azzam.

Since Palestinians require Israeli government permission to travel between the two separate areas of Palestine -- the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank -- Israeli authorities arrested Azzam, who had not obtained the necessary permit, at a security checkpoint. They then deported her to her home territory and forbade her return to Bethlehem. This, despite the fact that Azzam had nearly completed her studies.

The film follows Azzam's increasingly desperate legal battle to have this ruling overturned lest she be deprived of her all-important degree.

Another student describes the tragic fate that befell her family when they found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong moment and were mistaken for terrorists by Israeli soldiers. Her ultimate response to this wrenching misfortune, however, strikes a hopeful note and provides an uplifting example of Christian witness.

Scenes of real-life violence and potentially upsetting subject matter preclude endorsement for children, who are obviously unlikely to be interested anyway. But this otherwise unobjectionable study presents a valuable and enlightening educational opportunity for teens and their elders.

Screenings of "Across the Divide," which had its premiere in Vancouver, British Columbia, June 3, have been scheduled for Toronto Sept. 5 and Ottawa, Ontario, Sept. 19. The date for a showing in Windsor, Ontario, has yet to be scheduled. U.S. screenings are planned for the near future.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

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Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC
An application by Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation to renew the broadcasting licence for the national English-language Category 2 specialty programming undertaking Salt and Light, which expires 31 August 2013.
The licensee has confirmed that it will adhere to the standard conditions of licence for specialty Category B services set out in Standard conditions of licence, expectations and encouragements for Category B pay and specialty services – Corrected Appendices 1 and 2, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-786-1, 18 July 2011, but proposes changes with respect to the provision of closed captioning.
The licensee proposes to operate the undertaking under the same terms and conditions as those in effect under the current licence, with the exception of the changes resulting from the acceptance of the standard conditions of licence and the amendment mentioned above.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-19.htm
Licensee's address: 114 Richmond Street E, Toronto, ON M5C 1P1
 114 Richmond Street E, Toronto, ON M5C 1P1 416.971.5353 | 1.888.302.7181 Copyright © 2013 Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation