Three Promises is the story of a mother and her camera, of a son and his suppressed memories, and

of an entire country. At the start of the 2000s, while the Israeli army is retaliating against the

second intifada in the West Bank, Suha films her daily family life, punctuated by frequent trips

underground and overwhelmed by the anguish of her two young children. At every moment of

intense danger, she promises God that she will leave if they survive. In 2017, her son, the director of

this film, discovers this archive and reconnects with this suppressed past, wondering with his

mother what drove her to record a daily life of suffering, a stolen childhood, and why she delayed

fleeing, paralyzed by the hope for change and burdened by the impossible choice between physical

safety and emotional upheaval. While on the surface there emerges the heartrending portrait of

everyday life in times of war, it is the staggering beauty of a mother’s love that is revealed between

the lines. Blending the voice of the present with impressive family footage, Yousef completes the

story begun by Suha, thus averting the act of forgetting, both personal and collective.