Army checkpoints control the flow of humanity around what was, until recently, the most volatile area of the Middle East. This is the grim, everyday reality, stories that never make the news, people on both sides of the divide trying to lead their lives in a community so ripped apart that normality is held in place by the slenderest of threads. The wasteland, scarred by dirt roads and stretches of barbed wire, on which the checkpoints are situated, seems to reflect the scared and battered spirit of the inhabitants. It feels as though these checkpoints are chocking the community.

They are manned by young Israelis, many serving their National Service, who appear to have little interest in the politics of the situation. They go about their business of stopping and searching Palestinian commuters with the reluctance of teenagers being made to tidy their rooms. In fact, you get the feeling that their petty cruelty is as much due to dissatisfaction and frustration than an actual dislike of the Arabs. A cross section of Palestinian society is subjected to the indignity of emptying the contents of their bags onto the road, being herded around at gun point and denied access to where they want to go, seemingly on the whim of the border guards. There is bigotry in evidence, but little animosity. For the most part, they are doing their best to make an unfair and hugely inconvenient system work.

The film is a series of episodes from three different checkpoints, as a range of Palestinians, from school children to ambulance men, attempt to negotiate their way through, with varying degrees of success. These exchanges are often undramatic and, surprisingly, there is little tension, just an overwhelming sense of not wanting to be there. The repetition of the same situations in each episode seems to be making a point about the futility of the conflict.

Yoav Shamir finds moments of tenderness, even humour, and is able to show the humanity on both sides. The last scene is of a group of Palestinian men, who have been detained at a checkpoint most of the night. In almost complete darkness, we hear the voices of soldiers and Palestinians trying to negotiate a solution. It is a powerful metaphor for the conflict as a whole.