White Eye review: An incisive look at the plight of migrant communities

Tomer Shushan’s short Hebrew-language film White Eye prompts us to examine the seldom seen spaces and people in society when a seemingly mundane incident raises pointed questions about migrants and our attitudes towards them.

A young man Omer (Daniel Gad) unexpectedly finds his stolen bicycle only to realize that someone else is its owner. Determined to get back what is rightfully his, he contacts the police, who explain a circuitous process to him which involves finding the current owner. Impatient and angry, he attempts to cut away the lock and take back his property. He meets the owner, Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), a refugee from Eritrea. Far from being a thief, Yunes paid for the bicycle, which he bought for his daughter. The situation becomes more complicated and in the process, Omer is forced to confront his humanity.
 
The single-take film creates a sense of tension, which is mirrored in the nervous energy of the protagonist. We occupy the position of an observer, a witness to those who are marginalized and rendered invisible in society. Omer feels wronged and wants to take action, yet the red tape and bureaucracy prevent him from doing so. However, when he wishes to overturn his actions, the state machinery intercedes and it is too late.

The short captures the plight and vulnerability of innumerable migrants, especially the African immigrant community in Israel, who are simply trying to get by. Faced with racial prejudice, their situation is rendered doubly pitiful. The main actors portray their circumstances skillfully as we witness Omer’s dilemma, him regretting his decision, as well as Yunes’s helplessness in it all. As we feel Omer’s sense of loss and despair at the end, Shushan shows us a sex worker in the background, also just trying to get by, like the rest of us. 

White Eye won the Narrative Short Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival 2020 and was one of the five nominees in the Best Live Action Short Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards. The film was screened as part of the Auroville Film Festival 2022.