This documentary is a personal story filmed over four critical years in the life of Bethlehem, as it is being encircled by a 24-foot concrete wall. Leila Sansour, the filmmaker, was born and spent much of her life in the city. She left it as a teenager, pledging never to return. But in 2004 she went home for Christmas. That journey changed her life.
Open Bethlehem is "a big film about a little town", but also a movement. The movement welcomes people to become ambassadors of Bethlehem and to carry a symbolic passport of the city. The intention is to raise awareness about the current situation of a city that is cultural and religious heritage to much of the world, and to open discussion and open hearts to find different ways to live and share our world.