Beyond the Walls by Ahmed Adnan Al-Ramahi (2011, 45 min.). This powerful and artistic documentary uses animation and interviews to highlight social, psychological, and financial challenges faced by Palestinians after their release from Israeli detention in the 1970s and ’80s. Inside, the prisoners lived in a tight-knit community based on collaboration, cooperation, and encouragement. But on the outside, the newly released prisoners found themselves in an individualistic environment removed from the principles for which they fought.

Crayons of Askalan by Laila Hotait (2011, 65 min.). Imagination and memory were the sole survival tools for 15-year-old Zuhdi Al Adawi, imprisoned in 1975 in Israel’s Askalan prison. During his 15-year sentence, Zuhdi transformed his homesickness into beautiful drawings with crayons smuggled in by his cellmates and their families. These colorful depictions are brought to life in surreal, animated sequences in the documentary, and relatives and friends of the imprisoned men—including Zuhdi’s former cellmate—reenact the film’s dramatized prison scenes.