Several weeks ago I attended the NYC premiere of a film called “Slingshot Hip Hop” at MoMA. It’s a feature length documentary film produced by first-time director Jackie Reem Salloum. It may have been her first film, but you would never know if she didn’t say so—in front of a sold-out theater. Through cinéma vérité scenes and MTV-style animations, “Slingshot” allows the music of resistance to reveal itself as a character in its own right. This cultural remedy for a severely oppressed people has been seen before in film—but not coming out of Palestine.

While there are quite a few documentaries dedicated to the conflict in Israel / Palestine, this one takes a fairly unique approach by gravitating toward a very Palestine-centered viewpoint. Yet it doesn’t come off as propagandistic. The audience watched as DAM, Palestinian Rapperz (PR) and Arapeyat overcome the obstacles of living in occupied lands.It is not just the threat of physical violence that they face. The groups, especially a duo of female rappers, take on cultural stigmas and the lack of resources—especially the lack of venues and recording studios.

The most agonizing part of the film was watching as a burgeoning crew of young rappers, PR, try to exit Gaza and meet DAM in person. As they attempt their first crossing the audience finds out that the members, most in their twenties, had NEVER left the small strip of land between Israel and Egypt. Geographically they are separated by a mere 30 miles. Yet in real terms they are half a world a way. In fact, Israel requires Palestinians to have visas just to go from Gaza to the West Bank. It was utterly heart wrenching seeing them wait for hours at a checkpoint, only to be turned away.

However, the filmmaker did not let her audience wallow in the characters’ hardships. PR and DAM finally meet one another in the flesh. Female rapper / singer Abeer joined up with DAM. And, Abeer was able to make it to the U.S. to the world premiere of the film at Sundance as well as the NYC premiere at MoMA.