Some have lost friends and family members.
All bear the psychological and emotional scars of living in a war zone.

In July 2002, 22 Palestinian, Israeli and Palestinian Israeli teenage girls traveled to the United States to participate in a women's leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace. My So-Called Enemy is the story of 6 of the girls and how the transformative experience of knowing their "enemies" as human beings meets with the realities of their lives at home in the Middle East over the next seven years.

Through the coming-of-age narratives of Building Bridges participants Adi, Gal, Hanin, Inas, Rawan and Rezan, we see how creating relationships across personal, political and physical borders is a first step towards resolving conflict. By watching My So-Called Enemy communities will see the complexities of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through a human lens--and the possibillity and hope that come from listening to each other's stories. The girls are the experts in My So-Called Enemy--and their voices need to be heard, especially because they are young women.

Lisa Gossels - Director/Producer/Editor
Lisa Gossels is the President of Good Egg Productions, Inc, a New York City-based production company. Lisa's first film, The Children of Chabannes, which she made with Dean Wetherell, won an Emmy® Award in 2001, 10 film festival awards, had a limited theatrical release, aired on HBO Signature, local PBS stations and is distributed by Docurama. The Children of Chabannes has been praised as “One of the most heartening Holocaust films ever made--splendid, informative and emotionally involving." (Los Angeles Times) Since premiering at Silverdocs, Lisa's second film, My So-Called Enemy, has garnered five awards on the film festival circuit. It has been cited as "A provocative, balanced film that offers unexpected hope for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (Washington City Paper) and "An insightful, moving, important film. Extraordinary." (The Huffington Post) Lisa became a documentarian because she believes in the power of film to affect social change. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University.

MAIN CREDITS:
Producers: Lisa Gossels, Eden Wurmfeld
Co-Producer: Justin Schein
Director: Lisa Gossels
Cinematographer: Justin Schein
Editor): Lisa Gossels, David Mehlman, Toby Shimin
Composers: Music: Nathan Larson
Sound Editor: Lewis Goldstein