Checkpoint (2003 film)
2003 film by Yoav Shamir
Checkpoint (original title: Machssomim) is a 2003 documentary film by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir, showing the everyday interaction between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians at several of the region's Israel Defense Forces checkpoints. The film won five awards at various film festivals, including Best International Documentary at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, best feature-length documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and the Golden Gate Award for Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Although the film was generally well received, the depictions of the check points were controversial and provoked strong reactions.
The film was produced with the support of The New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television.
Synopsis
Checkpoint is shot in cinéma vérité style with no narration and very little context. Shamir himself is absent from the film except for one scene in which a border guard asks him to try to make him "look good," and Shamir asks how he should do that.
The camera films the people trying to cross at various checkpoints. At some checkpoints, such as the high-tech fortress at the Gaza Strip crossing, there are hundreds of people crowded and waiting to get through. At other checkpoints, such as South Jenin, there is just a truck blocking the road while people trickle by. Interactions vary, sometimes people show their identification cards without incident, but much of what Shamir has chosen to include are the more confrontational incidents.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15052375. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003.
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