Documentary Unveils Life Inside a West Bank Waldorf School

A new documentary titled House of Hope follows two educators, Manar Wahhab and Milad Vosgueritchian, as they work to keep a Waldorf-inspired school operating in the occupied West Bank.

Directed by Marjolein Busstra, the film documents three years at the House of Hope Vision Kindergarten & School in al-Eizariya. The story centers on the effort to sustain routines, learning, and a sense of safety for children while conditions around the school remain unstable.

Three years of filming at a single school site

Officials involved in the project said the production was built through nine separate filming trips. The footage is structured around day-to-day school operations and the practical decisions required to keep classes and activities running.

Rather than treating education as separate from politics, the film places the school’s work inside the lived reality of military occupation. It frames the kindergarten and school as an attempt to provide continuity in an environment where broader disruptions are persistent.

Waldorf philosophy presented as non-violent resistance

The documentary highlights how Waldorf educational ideas are used as a tool for emotional support and trauma management for Palestinian children. It portrays the approach as a way to help students process stress without relying on violence, while still acknowledging the pressures surrounding them.

According to the film’s presentation, the school’s mission includes protecting student agency and supporting psychological well-being. Classroom goals are shown alongside the realities that shape attendance, planning, and the ability to maintain a stable learning space.

Oct. 7, 2023 marks a turning point in the narrative

The timeline shifts after the events of October 7, 2023, when military activity in the West Bank intensified. The documentary depicts this period as adding strain to the school’s operations and increasing uncertainty for staff and families.

As the situation tightens, the film’s arc becomes more explicitly shaped by external pressure, with the founders’ work portrayed as a constant effort to keep the school functioning under rising constraints.

Production background and scope

House of Hope is positioned as both an intimate portrait of Wahhab and Vosgueritchian and a case study in how alternative education models intersect with geopolitical conflict. The film links pedagogical choices to the conditions that make those choices difficult to sustain.

The project was produced by Think-Film, a studio previously noted for work connected to the 2024 death of Hind Rajab in Gaza. The documentary’s focus remains on the West Bank school and the period it followed, while acknowledging that regional events affect how the story unfolds.