The Optimists

The Optimists tells the story of Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, a Palestinian chemist, who relocates with his family to Kibbutz Ketura in the southern Arava, in order to become the Academic Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. The Arava Institute was founded 20 years ago on Kibbutz Ketura in order to advance cross-border environmental cooperation by bringing together Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and others in an academic program that teaches that “nature knows no borders”.  The documentary reveals how the kibbutz manages to maintain the essence of kibbutz life and mutual support, focusing on a few key figures on the kibbutz and in the Arava Institute. It also explores the question of whether the optimistic spirit embodied by this collective kibbutz can survive and thrive in today’s Israeli society, and whether its liberal orientation can absorb Muslim Arab Israelis.