The first feature length fiction film by Palestinian documentary filmmaker Mai Masri, 3,000 Nights vividly captures the reality of the lives of Palestinian women imprisoned in an Israeli prison and of the children born there. Layal, a young teacher, is accused of committing an act of terrorism and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Life in this notorious Israeli women’s prison, where Palestinian political prisoners are confined, is brutal and appalling. Shortly after arriving, Layal discovers that she is pregnant and, despite the interfering prison authorities and an irresponsible husband, manages to raise her baby and find happiness with the help of her fellow prisoners. It is in this space that various emotions regarding solidarity and betrayal, resistance and submission, affection and rage bubble to the surface. When the prisoners go on a hunger strike in protest against the penitentiary’s cruel treatment, the warden offers Layal a deal involving her baby. This inhumane situation, where Layal is forced to choose between individual and collective interest, is a representation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well as of the noble struggle of defiant women fighting against injustice. (Minah JEONG)