Largely shot on shaky handheld cameras, this intense 81-minute documentary recounts the story of Ayed Morrar, a Palestinian in Budrus, a small West Bank town near the Green Line. Morrar and his neighbors face a problem: an expansion of the Israeli separation barrier that will cut through their community and uproot many of the village’s olive trees.

Morrar decides to take action. He organizes non-violent protests, which grow as the days pass and tension builds between the residents and the Israeli border police charged with removing the trees. As the test of wills continues, women in Budrus form their own contingent and begin to practice peaceful resistance to the earthmovers and military personnel. Eventually Israeli peace activists join the effort. As days pass and the film progresses, talking devolves to shouting, then to scuffling and finally to stone-throwing and shooting as both sides struggle to resolve the worsening standoff. Meanwhile, interviews with Morrar; his daughter, Illtezam; Ahmed Awwad, a Hamas activist; and Yasmine Levy, the border police squad commander provide personality, depth and a welcome break from the action.

Honored by film festivals from San Francisco to Berlin to Jerusalem, 2009’s “Budrus” is one of dozens of documentaries making its appearance at the St. Louis International Film Festival this month. Mostly in Arabic and Hebrew, the movie, directed by Brazilian-born filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer/editor “Control Room”) is largely subtitled. Last year, it was honored with Jordan’s King Hussein Leadership Prize.

Bacha’s accolades are well-deserved. “Budrus” is interesting, subtle and commands attention if through no other means than discomfort. Compelling as the characters are, it’s apprehension that keeps the audi ence trapped in the world “Budrus” documents. As the protests intensify and the Israelis bring in reinforcements, it becomes painfully clear that the status quo cannot go on forever. At some point, one side will have to give in.

The one-on-one sessions are of particular interest. A modest, likable everyman, the soft-spoken Morrar is an interviewer’s dream. He seems committed to peaceful, reasonable problem solving and determined to round up allies wherever he can find them, from Palestinian officials to sympathetic Israelis to Hamas activists. Levy’s recounting of her interactions with the village women is also of special note.

The reasons for the fence’s construction are mentioned, of course. A quick shot of a bombed out Israeli bus makes an early, if fleeting, appearance. Even Morrar notes that he has no problem with the fence itself, if only it would remain on the Green Line rather than meander through his town’s olive groves.

Yet while “Budrus” has no narration, it doesn’t lack a perspective and leaves little doubt about where sympathy lies. By interviewing a border squad commander and – somewhat more briefly – talking to an Israeli military spokesman – the film takes a stab at balance but the effort, while earnest, feels obligatory and vaguely inadequate. It’s anything but easy for a friend of Israel to watch the quiet, pleasant Morrar exhort to a cheering crowd as a forest of festive green Hamas banners wave, all the more so without any examination of the violent and bloody role the terrorist group has played in the fighting. Between the film’s lack of narration, its understated music and its seemingly dispassionate approach, this is a documentary that somehow pretends to say less about the conflict than it really does. In short, “Budrus” may be a fly on the wall but it’s a wall that was chosen carefully.

That said, Morrar, who calls himself the terrorist organization’s “most ardent critic” and acknowledges Israel’s right to self-defense, is not Hamas. And “Budrus” is not a propaganda film. The nature of the work’s narrow focus on one town’s story can forgive at least some of its lack of perspective. The result is opinionated, even biased, but still thoughtful and informative.

Unquestionably, “Budrus” is a film worth seeing about the complexities of a tale that needs telling. Its protagonist is fascinating and his story brings up genuine, reasonable, often troubling questions about the effect the path of Israel’s separation barrier has on its neighbors. It’s the value of those questions and the skill with which they are raised that perhaps makes the film’s failure to answer them with greater context all the more disappointing.

‘Budrus’

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18

Where: Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Boulevard