Precious Life (Chaim Yakarim) is a richly topical, award-winning feature documentary following the heartfelt struggle of a Palestinian mother to secure lifesaving treatment for her baby in a complex and war-torn country.

 

'First do no harm' - an age-old oath and adage from the Hippocratic Corpus to practice medicine ethically - is not only the starting point for any serious medical journey but a particularly salient caution for young Muhammad Abu Mustaffa. Born without an immune system to Palestinian parents, Muhammad is in need of an emergency bone marrow transplant that can only be performed with the technical expertise found in an Israeli hospital. With a benevolent donation and an Israeli paediatrician on the case, mother and doctor must face their most profound biases in order to save Muhammad's life.

 

Former war correspondent Shlomi Eldar takes into account the intricacies of their plight and balances his story with a gripping exploration of humanity amidst chaos and the many paradoxes presented by the ever-violent Palestine-Israel conflict.