The Israeli-Palestinian divide serves as the backdrop to “Corner Store,” a new documentary making its festival debut this weekend at the 33rd Starz Denver Film Festival.
But the story of Yousef, a convenience store clerk patiently waiting to be reunited with his family overshadows whatever stance one has on the intractable conflict.
WWTW touched base with “Corner Store” director Katherine Bruens to find out how she first met this remarkable family and how she traversed politically explosive ground to share their story.
WWTW: How did you hear about Yousef and his family, and what was his reaction when you approached him about making a documentary about his struggles?
Katherine Bruens: After living in my apartment in San Francisco for almost two years, and frequenting Church St Market for that time, I knew Yousef, but the way most people in San Francisco know “their” Corner Store Guy. We chit chatted; he was, of course, as he is in the film incredibly considerate and always gave me a sense that he was looking out for the neighborhood.
But it wasn’t until the winter of 2008 after I went into the store visibly upset by my recent layoff (as so many were at that time) that I heard the back story. But it was how he came to tell me that made me decide to shoot “Corner Store.” He had asked me what was wrong, and I told him what had happened and attempted to put on a brave face telling him that it would only be a matter of time and that I was sure (I wasn’t) that everything would work out in the end. Yousef responded by saying that he, too, had felt lonely coming to the U.S. without his family, not speaking the language and feeling terribly isolated by his work.
BUT that only 10 years later he now owned his own store and would be reunited with his family in a matter of months. It is my hope that that too comes through in this film: that it is not only the struggles and perseverance that are remarkable, but the genuine empathy and connection that this incredible person radiates to his neighbors and that allowed him to remain a real father to his children for all those years from so far away.
WWTW: Yousef is caught between the political crossfire at the heart of the Middle East – and yet he doesn’t talk about politics or even speak of being bitter about the process. Did you try to draw out his political feelings through the shooting process?
KB: Although we did attempt and at some level succeed in drawing out his feelings about the politics that not only put him in a position need to leave his homeland, but also the politics that kept him separated for so many years in the end, this was not the main focus of our interviews with him, The politics is an important landscape of this story, and one that we hope draws attention to these important issues. However, on a broader level, these are the present day specificities of a hugely universal tale, which one might switch out the year and the country a family is for one reason or another forced to leave their homeland and the difficulties awaiting them in the country they are attempting to emigrate to.
WWTW: The family appears to open themselves up to you fully – did it take time to earn their trust? How do you do that as a filmmaker and still stay removed enough to tell your story honestly?
KB: [Director of Photography] Sean [Gillane]and I had a joke about this, actually, that Yousef was just too polite to not let us make a feature length film documenting the most imitate parts of his life. But in all seriousness, I sort of slowly began this project with him shooting the more superficial details first, which ended up still being very useful footage endearing him to the audience. But I of course fell in love with Yousef as I hope our audiences will, and I think I was able to use that initial reverence by having the goal outright to let him drive his story. I feel as though a large part of the point of the project is to let him speak in a way that he was unable to do in five-minute intervals over the counter. We (as his neighbors) all collected to ourselves a hundred little details, but no one had the whole story. So I thought of this as an opportunity both for us but also for him to speak. With that, in a way, with the subjectivity we strove for, dishonesty becomes nearly impossible by definition.
WWTW: What goals did you have in mind before you started shooting “Corner Store?” Were there any documentaries you hoped to emulate in terms of tone or storytelling?
KB: The challenge here, as unfortunate as it, is to present an Arab American hero in what is essential a very common odyssey plot line, and break down the boundary of race and class from the story to reveal the commonalities and lay a platform for empathy and understanding. This may sound odd, but this form of story telling is something more borrowed from some of my favorite authors rather than filmmakers. Though out the film we have attempted to treat much of the interview content as sort of a trailing inner monologue that mimics the subjective style of modernist authors that I admire, and the overarching themes again come from one author in particular, in this case E. M. Forester whose a Passage to India has always been an inspiration to me in terms of structural story telling.
WWTW: Yousef’s family speaks highly of the U.S. and shares many of the dreams most immigrants dream of before landing on U.S. soil. Did that perspective surprise you given the U.S. support for Israel?
KB: Actually, this is not incredibly surprising for me. I think in the end there is a lesson embedded within this film and the experience of immigrating in general which is that being concerned with and participating in politics is a luxury that essentially is overwhelmed when a family like Yousef’s is put into an the kind of economic hardship they found themselves in during the second intifada. As he says in the film his primary concern was being able to provide food and medicine for his children, and that I think is a major part of why this story is such a tragic yet enlightening way for those of us not directly involved to reconsider the “politics” of Israel Palestine and the US involvement in this conflict. I think more us should orient ourselves around the issue of basic human rights for all people, including Palestinians, and move from there. When I am questioned about my own politics regarding this issue, time and time again I am dismayed by its polarization on both sides. It is a goal of this film to remind its audiences that our primary concern should be first with the people who are affected by the politics and should engage from there with their best interests in mind rather than those of their governments.
WWTW: “Corner Store” has a definite stance regarding Israeli occupation – yet the film lets the story, the people and the situation share it without speechifying. Can you discuss your approach?
KB: I wouldn’t exactly say that “Corner Store” has a definite stance regarding Israeli occupation – more that it provides an on the ground look at present day West Bank day to day life for many. This film of course is not a study of the conflict but rather one man whose life is of course greatly affected by it. This approach was very purposeful, and as you may imagine after having traveled to the West Bank was something that we had to remind ourselves to stay faithful to in building this story. Again, I must go back to the goal of staying faithful to the subjective story telling within a documentary format and reorienting audiences to prioritize the people within these “issues” and not allow them to be disconnected of forgotten in a discussion of the politics of nations.
WWTW: Any plans for a follow-up feature – maybe in five or 10 years to learn more about the family and how they’ve adjusted?
KB: You know, it is difficult for me to not continue to shoot this family now. I am still very close to them and see them on a regular basis (sort of like an aunt or something). The first thing most people ask me after having seen the film is resoundingly “How are the kids?” and of course that people have become so invested in this family after 70min means the world to me. Yousef’s brother Hanna’s family talks about moving back home from time to time, and I sometime feel like that would be an interesting follow up as well. In the end though, I can’t really say that I have definitive plans like this. The truth to the question of how are the kids are doing varies from day to day just like the rest of us, and I would imagine that will be the same ten years from now.
Part II: Bruens discusses the early reaction to her film as well as how it helped further her education as a filmmaker.
(Photo: Yousef Elhaj’s shop, Church St Market in San Francisco featured in the new documentary “Corner Store.”)
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