Letter To My Tribe

b.h. Yael

Letter to My Tribe started with a question: Why don’t more Jews and Israelis speak out about Palestine? Over many years, the author and his mother, who represents a more messianic perspective, had numerous arguments, some recorded, some not. These form the backbone of this video essay in which Israelis and Jews, journalists, activists and a rabbi are interviewed, and in which documentation of actions on the ground are woven with more personal family histories and journeys to Iraq and to Poland.

Canada 2024, '97

DIRECTOR: b.h. Yael

SCENARIO: b.h. Yael

CAMERA: b.h. Yael

MONTAGE: Dennis Day

MUSIC: David Wall

PRODUCERS: b.h. Yael

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

Toronto Palestine FF (2024)
Love Peace Freedom FF: Jury Award (2024)

b.h. Yael

b.h. Yael is a Toronto based filmmaker and installation artist. Yael's films have exhibited nationally and internationally, and have shown in various settings, from festivals to galleries to community and activist groups, as well as at various educational venues. She is a recipient of numerous arts grants and awards. Yael’s work deals with the many intersections of identity and family; it has focused on activist initiatives in Palestine/Israel, as well as apocalypse, geopolitical and environmental urgencies. A book about her work, Family States, released in 2021, edited by Mike Hoolboom and published by ConverSalon is available for download at bhyael.ca. Her films are distributed by Vtape and the b.h. Yael collection streams online through Cinema Politica. Yael is Professor of Integrated Media at OCAD University, where she co-programs an arts lecture series, Art Creates Change.