House of Hope: A new film follows a Waldorf-inspired school in the West Bank | Israel-Palestine War News

At one point in the documentary, House of Hope, the protagonist, Manar Wahhab, collapses in the corner of a classroom at the school she founded with her husband in the West Bank. The cameras are still rolling.

“To enter a person’s life with a camera at a time when they are at their worst, it is a little difficult, but we made a decision together to continue filming at this time. I wanted the audience to be with them,” director Marjolein Busstra told Al Jazeera.

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The film follows Wahhab, a Palestinian woman who founded a Waldorf school with her husband, Milad Vosgueritchian, in al-Eizariya in the occupied West Bank.

House of Hope Vision Kindergarten & School teaches the Waldorf philosophy of non-violence and gives children the opportunity to express their feelings and deal with the pain and hardships of living under occupation.

“The school protects the dignity of children right now, especially refusing to allow work to interfere with their inner life, so that they can be children and have responsibility,” said Busstra. “It’s in the Waldorf philosophy that they give room for expression.”

Working with a Palestinian group, Busstra spent three years with Wahhab, traveling to the occupied West Bank six times during that time. He first met Wahhab 18 years ago during a film shoot in the West Bank.

Although the script revolves around an elementary school, Wahhab is the driving force behind the story. The story follows Wahhab and Vosgueritchian, at school and at home with their children.

“I started painting in school, but right away, I knew I wanted to do the interior of Manar,” Busstra said. “I think hope is a difficult word at the moment, but I’m in awe of Manar, who continues to create and teach despite carrying so much.”

For Wahhab, his respect for Busstra and their existing friendship helped him believe in the film team at a time of crisis.

“We all believe strongly in education, in children’s activities and freedom and seeing a person as something complete and beautiful in mind, life and spirit. Shared values ​​that led to a sense of openness and trust between us and helped to make a film that is not only practical but also human,” Wahhab told Al Jazeera.

The film was produced by Think-Film, the company behind it The voice of Hind Rajabwhich tells the story of five-year-old Hind who was killed by Israeli forces in 2024. The soldiers fired 335 bullets into the car carrying the girl and six members of her family – a story that became a symbol of the failed system to protect children in Gaza.

Although it was difficult at times, Wahhab said he tried to get the group to record several aspects of his life.

He said: “During these three years, the people working on the ship met people of different nationalities. “I understood that I have to be as honest as possible, because I do not represent myself, but my community, hope, peace and the voice of Palestine.”

Wahhab and Vosgueritchian founded the school because they wanted to provide a different kind of education to Palestinian children and provide a place where they feel safe and where they can share their feelings.

“This school was born many years ago when we saw the problems that surrounded our community and we wanted to create something different, a place of love, safety, technology and healing,” said Wahhab. “House of Hope is an idea, a service and an energy that we carry wherever we go.”

In the wake of violence in Israel, Wahhab sees Waldorf philosophy as essential.

“I don’t see non-violence as weakness. Actually, I believe the opposite. Violence is easy. Non-violence requires courage, awareness, patience and inner work. It asks us to see beyond our pain and selfishness and hold on to our humility even when circumstances try to take it away from us,” he said.

“The world takes the energy we create, and right now, there is a lot of fear, anger and violence in our world. I think we need more peace within ourselves, peace with each other and peace with the environment,” Wahhab added.

After the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s war took a brutal turn. Life became very difficult for Wahhab, Vosgueritchian and the children of House of Hope, but the staff continued to write their reality.

“The story I wanted to make with Manar became the same, but after October 7, everything became very heavy. They were very low for a while. They were like different people, like they lost hope,” said Busstra. “The school has built this safe space, but the work is always going to be at the door.”

Israel’s extensive military operations in the West Bank, incl shoot and kill for children, it is stable spectrum. In one scene, Wahhab watches his son go to school and checks to see if he has a phone charger and clothes to spare if he sits on a log for hours.

“The power is very heavy now. I hope people will understand that we are not asking for something extraordinary. We are asking for human rights, the right to dignity and freedom, the right to security and the right to be fully human,” said Manar.

Busstra, who has been a close follower of Wahhab for three years, said he wanted the audience to go “as far as we can with them”.

“I hope that this will not stay with people, not as something distant that happens to others, but that they can find within their understanding of what it means to love someone in an unsafe world.”

Wahhab believes that the film provides a broader view of the Palestinian people.

“I think that in the West, many people see a very poor image of Palestine and the Middle East. Sometimes they see us through the mind as terrorists, as people who are not developed or less than themselves,” he said. “I hope this film will help people to stop thinking about these images. Stories do not tell the real truth. They often only show violence and murder, they don’t show people’s lives, they show inequality,” he said.

Wahhab encouraged people to think about the writings in terms of shared personality.

House of Hope won the best international award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in May 2026 and was recently shown at UNESCO in Paris. It will soon be shown at the Jerusalem Arab Film Festival.

“Although our story is rooted in the West Bank, its message is global.