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Struggling to overcome the effects of their time spent in Israeli jails, 11 young Palestinian boys meet once a week for a group therapy session.
In a room at their local YMCA in Hebron, the West Bank, a group of teenage boys come together each week to discuss their shared traumatic experiences. They are just a few of the 7,500 Palestinian minors aged 12-18 who, over the past decade, have been arrested on a daily basis and placed in Israeli jails, where their rights as children are completely ignored.
Most have committed crimes no worse than throwing stones, but each is subjected to an average of two years in jail and rarely escapes without suffering the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Following these young boys as they undergo three months of group therapy, all the while struggling to integrate back into the routines they once knew, director Tone Anderson takes us deep into the lives of some of the conflict’s biggest victims.
Astute in its observations and rich with the energy and courage of its characters, When the Boys Return highlights the fear and uncertainty that blights the development of much of Palestine’s youth.
Director Tone Andersen will join us via Skype for a post-screening Q&A.