This film tears at my heart and makes me cry. It is a documentary on Palestinians in exile told by third generation refugee children.

The children are all members of the dance troupe Ibdaa that in Arabic means to create something out of nothing. The film gives a history of the troupe itself but filmmaker S Smith Patrick also has the children talk candidly about their lives. Some speak in English and some in Arabic (there are English subtitles). They each explain exactly where they are from although none of them had been to these places.

I don't know that my reaction to the film is typical as I found myself crying and shaking and so terribly upset. The children do not speak about violence, but when the serene face of a little boy with big eyes is telling me that the schools are too small, that there are only 24 teachers for 1,200 children, that because there are so many of them they have to use the school room in shifts.

When he says that there is only one doctor for 10,000 patients and that many very ill are left unattended every day. I find it impossible not to be drawn in. I feel like screaming. I feel that there must be something I can do, and it makes me cry.

Beautifully shot the director exposes the stark differences between the cramped conditions of the occupied West Bank refugee camp of Dheisheh and the open spaces of the homelands of the dancers.

Ibdaa do traditional Palestinian dances and the troupe have toured most of the Arab world, Europe and also the US. The film intersperses slow motion shots of their performances adding an unusual dimension their stories.

The children explain how they feel when they dance and the floaty effect of the footage helps you to feel their sense of escape and freedom.

Presented in a fresh and honest way, the director was obviously careful to not bombard the viewer with shots of cramped, uncomfortable conditions. The story is told simply but passionately by the children and footage only used to illustrate their points, not to shock and upset you.

Ms Patrick has a clear talent for documentary filmmaking as I remember most of the facts and figures presented in the half hour piece. Many can get more than a point or two across but to make it stick, that's the brilliance.

Cathy Stovell