(No) Laughing Matter
Vanessa Rousselot
2010 - 54 min - HDV - Couleur - France, Palestine

Convinced that humor knows no frontiers, young filmmaker Vanessa Rousselot embarks on an unusual quest: to search for humor in the West Bank. At first she finds only disillusionment: "our whole situation is a joke". But little by little, Rousselot uncovers and reveals Palestine's own vibrant culture of humor, one that occasionally challenges conventional expectations.
From inane stories mocking the residents of Hebron (the classic butts of Palestinian jokes) to self deprecating political quips and bittersweet anecdotes about the absurdity of everyday life, the director's investigation plunges her deep into Palestine's peculiar comedic universe, one in which bright glimmers of hope and humanity endure in the shadow of conflict.