By Layth Handoush.

CANDYBOX is a story familiar to the journalists in Palestine and the U.S. who have dared to report the truth of the Palestinian Genocide. As a Palestinian-American journalist and activist, I was struck by the power of media bias to villainize Palestinians (and all oppressed people/counter-narrators). After receiving death threats for supporting an anti-genocide protest, I wanted to bring attention to the media industry’s failure to factually report on the event and encourage people to advocate for Palestine. 

The hardest part about writing CANDYBOX was trying to represent the corruption both accurately and comprehensively. There’s already so much misinformation about Palestine and its supporters, and the last thing I wanted was to create a project that wasn’t indicative of the truth. Furthermore, I didn’t want to try translating the contemporary struggles of Palestinians on the ground because those stories should be received by and credited to them alone. I ultimately decided that the best thing to do would be to recreate a single situation that my fellow journalists and I have experienced, and use it as a catalyst for people to take up their own education on Palestine and the US’s complicity in international militarization, apartheid, and colonialism. There is so much that I wanted to teach, share, and scream into this 10-minute film that I wasn’t able to, but I hope it stirs up some good trouble on its own! 

As my directorial debut, I’m so proud of what CANDYBOX turned out to be! I’ve already said this to their faces a million times, but the fact that so many of my fellow DeKAs and friends were excited and motivated to help with the project means everything. They demonstrated the true purpose of creativity in using their talents and imaginations to share something we believe is important with the world. Some even took on roles that they’ve never done before just to help in some way. I’m also proud that we maintained an ethical workstyle both on and off screen by sourcing props and crafty from companies that were not primary targets on the Boycott List for Palestine.  

I hope you all enjoy CANDYBOX and are motivated to take action for a Free Palestine and a non-complicit America.