Udi Ben Seadia is taking the audience for a ride — literally. The Israeli playwright and theater director has made a documentary about his volunteer work driving Palestinians to medical treatment in Israel, and why he continues to find meaning in the effort even after Oct. 7.
“Is there even a chance for reconciliation and dialogue with our Palestinian neighbors, especially after what happened, the terrible thing that happened on Oct. 7?” he asks in the film.
The documentary will be shown on July 19 in Palo Alto and July 20 in Walnut Creek, with Ben Seadia attending both screenings.
Ben Seadia, 70-year-old self-proclaimed lefty, is a volunteer with Road to Recovery. Founded in 2010, it organizes Israeli volunteers who ferry 1,500 Palestinians patients, primarily children, to Israeli hospitals each year. (Palestinians are not allowed to take their own cars across such checkpoints, for security reasons, and taxis are expensive).
We see him driving and conversing with a Palestinian father, whose toddler is being treated for cancer; talking with friends who berate him for spending time saving Palestinians instead of caring for Israelis; and analyzing his actions with a variety of people.
“This tragedy caused me to ask the question: Is bringing Palestinians patients into Israel a good thing?” he told Nadine Joseph, board president of the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival, which is sponsoring the documentary. “In the film, I’m looking for answers, and I’m not sure there’s a clear-cut answer. I meet different people with different perspectives in the film. The people I meet reflect my inner dilemma.”
It’s a dilemma for Ben Seadia’s wife as well.
“In the film, I encounter and listen to many antagonists, including my wife, who used to take patients from Gaza to Israeli hospitals,” he said. “But after the tragedy, she stopped.”
But Ben Seadia did not stop, and he hopes the audience can think about the questions with him. Sometimes, he believes, the only answer is to be true to yourself.
“It’s my story,” he said. “You have to stick to your authentic experience. You speak your truth.”
“The Road to Recovery” with director Udi Ben Seadia. Co-sponsored by the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival. 8:15 p.m. Saturday, July 19 at Congregation Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto. $10 members, $15 at the door. 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 20 at Congregation B’nai Shalom, 74 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. $10-$13.