Cinema Palestina 3

Cinema Palestina (b)
Back to one's roots

Just as their form of Islam is often shrouded in mystery, the political and cultural life of the Druze in Israel today is frequently ignored or only vaguely understood. Most know that the Druze are Palestinian Muslims who serve in the Israeli army. Yet little is heard of the divisions amongst the Druze this has engendered, or the resistance that has been mounted to Zionism by Druze. Bilal Yousef’s Back to One’s Roots is an eloquent doc that works to demystify and challenge perceptions of Druze political life in Israel. It tells the story of Yaman, a Druze citizen who grew up in the north of Israel. Yaman’s dream of joining a Special Forces Unit is shattered upon the death of his two brothers as they serve in the army. When he nonetheless insists on joining the army, he is dispatched to work in an Israeli prison holding Palestinian and Arab activists. Contact with these political prisoners leads him to reevaluate his relationship with the Israeli army and reflect on his identity as a Palestinian Druze.

Badal

Mara’ana Menuhin, Ibtisam

A Badal deal marriage’ usually means when a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family – interlocking the two couples forever.Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. This is common practice in Muslim families in the Middle East. The film follows a family during the process of putting such a deal together. It portrays the lives of Palestinian women living within Israel: their struggles in being a part of their traditional society vs. the quest to maintain their full rights as women and citizens of a Jewish state.

Bar Bahar (In Between)

by Maysaloun Hamoud, fiction 102 min, Israel/Frankrijk 2016?
De kettingrokende en bijzonder aantrekkelijke Laila, overdag advocate en ’s nachts een feestbeest, deelt in Tel Aviv een appartement met haar gay vriendin Salma, die de kost verdient als barkeeper en dj. Er is nog een kamer over en die wordt vergeven aan Nour, een hoofddoekdragend moslimmeisje dat IT-wetenschappen studeert. Al snel ontpopt zij zich als een even vrijgevochten geest. Hun leefstijl ontmoet de nodige weerstand, vooral van potentiële liefdespartners.
Deze eerste lange film van de Palestijns-Israëlische regisseur Maysaloun Hamoud is een ware eyeopener zijn. Hamoud, die zelf het wervelende scenario schreef, portretteert vrouwen niet als dociele en aan de man onderworpen wezens, maar juist als sterke, seksueel actieve en vooral onafhankelijke personen. Deze Palestijnse variant van Sex and the City is internationaal heel goed ontvangen, getuige het grote aantal prijzen dat de film tot nu toe heeft gewonnen.
Van het Arab Filmfestival 2017 in Rotterdam. www.youtube.com

Be quiet

Zoabi’s short tells the story of a Palestinian boy and his father on their journey home to the city of Nazareth. What should be a simple journey is instead beset by the tensions of a politically charged atmosphere and militarized reality, each fuelling the struggle of a father bringing up his strong willed son. Excellent cinematography and fine performances combine to make this a compelling narrative short, for which Zoabi was recognised with a prestigious award at Cannes in 2005.

Before you is the sea

Hisham Zreiq,   fiction   2012  18 min.

“Before you is the sea” is a short film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman and a young Arab man in love… but also an allegory of the Middle East peace process, when the Camp David summit abruptly broke off, effectively sealing the fate of the Oslo negotiations.

Working on two levels, the film captures the wrought Israeli-Palestinian relationship, and a love fought with the burden of political adversity. A Hisham Zreiq film, rich with symbolism, subtle hints… nothing more to add, nothing left to take away. Great authentic acting helps audience to identify with the protagonists.

Beirut Photographer

by George Azar, docu, 2012
In 1981, George Azar, a Lebanese-American, crossed the Syrian border into Lebanon. He carried an inexpensive camera, less than $100, and a desire to change the way the Arab world was portrayed by the US media. He began taking photographs. But within a few months, Israel attacked Lebanon, and war broke out.
Suddenly immersed in a world of gunfire and terror in an unfamiliar city, George chronicled the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerillas, teenage snipers, and civilians living through what became one of the bloodiest summers in the history of the modern Middle East.
Thirty years on, he returns to Beirut, retraces his steps, and unpicks the stories and people behind some of his most iconic photographs – those that were published, and many of which were unseen at the time. www.youtube.com
Trailer: “https://www.facebook.com/Beirutphotographer

Beirut - Mulholland 150 Thousand miles

by Mira Sidawi: Lebanon – Palestine | 2013 | Arabic dialogue with English subtitles | 52 minutes | World premiere Malmo 2013.

SYNOPSIS: A drama documentary film that narrates the life of Palestinian-Syrian refugees who found a way to escape from the ongoing war in Syria, to Lebanon. Mira Sidawi, a Palestinian dramatist, lives and works in Beirut. He took the responsibility to search deep in the refugees’ destiny before she herself got lost in Mulholland on the never never road!

Belonging

Unusuality Productions LLC, 2006, DVD, 107 min. A powerful story of the Nasir family that weaves together the U.S. Great Depression struggles of the director’s mother with the exile of his Palestinian father. Well edited and supplemented by archival footage and historic photographs, “Belonging” is an excellent resource for understanding the Nakba and the Palestinian-American experience.

Bernarda Alba in Palestine

Cristina Andreu (vr), docu 23 min. 2014, Palestina-Spanje. DCP. Spaans-Arab. gesproken, Engelse ondertitels.
Filmmaker Andreu rehearses a college production of Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba” with a group of Spanish language students in Bethlehem.
trailer: www.youtube.com

Bethlehem bandolero

After years in exile, the Palestinian artist returns to her native Bethlehem, only to find the town has been divided by the Israeli segregation wall. Unable to see friends and family, Sansour sets off wearing a red sombrero and bandana. After making her way through the streets of Bethlehem, she confronts the wall in an absurd duel…

Bethlehem Hidden from View

(Fringe Event)

Produced by Tim and Mairi Neeves, 2008, Documentary, 30mins, English
Back again by popular demand, Bethlehem: Hidden From View is a film about the strangling and imprisonment of the ‘Little Town’ of Bethlehem and its impact on the local Christian community. Presented by Amos Trust’s Founder Garth Hewitt, the film also www.youtube.com

Between Heaven and Earth
by Sahera Dirbas, documentary 11 min. 2015, Switzerland, Palestine Arabic with English subtitels

A barber’s shop in Switzerland, kept by two Iraqis: A place where refugees from different nationalities come and meet, amongst them a Palestinian-Syrian refugee and an Italian immigrant. They all tell of their journeys to Switzerland and about life in exile.

Back to Tell a Tale

by Yara Abou Haidar; documentary 50 min, Lebanon 2017, Arabic and Engl. ST.
The memory holding five resistance fighters from different organizations starts playing in a documentary bearing witness on what they’d gone through.
From Shatila Camp, Sheikh Mountain, Latakia Sea, and Fatima Gate, they all went after the enemy. They performed outstanding operations of great resonance, resulting in captivating them and torturing them for many many years in Israeli prisons. Today in light of the Prisoners’ Revolt and their hunger strike, we are going to tell the tales of these former prisoners: Ahmad Al Abras, Kifah Afifi, Anwar Yassin, Mohammad Ramadan, and Mostafa Hammoud. Despite of their intellectual, political, and religious differences, together they believed in upholding a rifle against the Zionist enemy. They are back to tell a tale, because untold tales fall in our enemies’ grip.

Between a Garden and the Sea

by A. Lorr, experimental documentary 16,5 min. Palestine 2016. In Arabic, English, and French with English subtitles.

This visual poem documents the fragmentation of territory in Palestine as an impressionistic roadblock movie. Composed of fragments of letters and poems, it’s in an intimate tone that we embark on a journey from the West Bank hills to the Mediterranean Sea. A short distance made long with detours, checkpoints, and dead ends; it inspires suffocation at times, liberation at others. www.youtube.com

Between Two Deaths

by Amir Fakhreddin, documentary 21 min. Syria 2016 Arabic with English subtitles

Kameel and Zenab are two Syrian peasants living under Israeli occupation in the
occupied Golan Heights. The two are torn between the echoes of the constant shelling
in Syria, and decades old Israeli forced occupation. www.youtube.com

Bloody Basil

by Elia Ghorbiah; documentary 14 min, Palestine 2017, Arabic, Engl. ST.
Bloody Basil a film produced by the Social and Economic Policies Monitor – Al Marsad; reflects experiences of the Palestinian Female Workers in “Israeli” settlements and main violations faced. These violations are the result of the occupation’s policies that confiscated Palestinian farmers’ lands and turned them into workers in the settlements. eliaghorbiah.wordpress.com

Bonboné

by Rakan Mayasi, fiction 15 min. Palestine 2017

Trailer: vimeo.com

The film is about a couple in Palestine, while the husband is serving his sentence in an Israeli prison. Any physical contact being forbidden in the prison, the couple, impatient, decides to go out clandestinely sperm to make a child.

 

Broken – A Palestinian Journey Through International Law

by Mohammed Alatar, documentary 52 min, Switzerland, Palestine 2018. English with Arabic subtitles.

Trailer: www.youtube.com

When the international court of justice elevated the Palestinian cause to a new level in the wall case in 2004, many people thought that was a historic turning point in the bloody conflict. But history did not turn. Why?

Broken Dreams

by Mohamed Harb; documentary 53 min. Palestine, 2016, Arabic and Engl. ST.

Trailer: www.youtube.com

The film tells the story of Madeleine, a 14-year- old Palestinian girl whose life has changed forever after her father loses his leg when his fishing boat attacked by the Israeli navy in Gaza life.  
​Madeleine boldly takes her father’s place on the boat. They become the financial provider of the family and the first professional yacht in Gaza..

Beyond Blue and Grey

Jessica Habie

Beyond Blue and Gray investigates creative life under occupation. How do the continual cycles of violence, curfew and movement restrictions affect the artists color choice, language or treatment of subject? How can a Palestinian artist protect his or her work from the stereotypes of politics and the poetic ravages of war?

Te zien op: vimeo.com

The Dialogue Project Our films deal with trying to understand the Israeli Palestinian conflict in new ways, through the lens of the artist. Inspiring global dialogue in times of stagnant political rhetoric with a renewed dedication to all of mankind. Everyone knows, if we can accomplish peace in Jerusalem, we can cultivate justice anywhere. One of the main reasons we created theses film projects was to use them as tools to facilitate dialogue in Europe and the United States about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is our hope that our work will make connections between organizations and individuals working around similar issues globally. It is extremely important that Jews, Israelis, Arabs and Moslems living in the international Diaspora communicate often and honestly because dialogue between these groups living in the Middle East has become very painful and often problematic. We must support our family in the Middle East and let them feel that we won’t remain silent while they continue to suffer.
‘Beyond Blue and Gray’ is a look at the relationship between conflict and creativity in Palestine. Why Two Films? Beyond Blue and Gray’s sister project, Art and Apathy People often ask us, as filmmakers who are working towards reconciliation and justice for Israel and Palestine, why did we chose to create two separate film projects, rather than housing all of our artists under one roof. The answer is difficult and took many years of work to understand. Unfortunately, at this time, artwork (especially by international artists) that aims to bring together Israeli and Palestinian voices is often doing more harm than good. Bringing Israeli and Palestinian artists together to co-create in a project, gives the illusion that dialogue, peace and reconciliation can flourish in today’s political atmosphere. The opposite is true. The cruelty of the military and political powers in the region makes such ideas completely unattainable. We felt that it is important to discuss reality as experienced by Israelis and Palestinians living in the Middle East today. This way international audiences can appreciate a more humanistic depiction of the conflict, and begin to ask themselves what they are doing to support the cycles of violence.
Another reason why we have separated our films is because Israelis and Palestinians have never been so segregated. There is a complete separation of societies, historical narratives and cultures. For this reason we chose to present a diverse range of opinions and personalities rather than asking our audience to accept one unified voice. We ask our audience to hold space for several voices, as we begin to understand that several narratives exist, several complex histories have brought us to this point and it is absolutely impossible to hold one persons truth higher than another’s.
However, it is equally important to understand that although we are talking about two complex histories, there is only one occupation. The occupation must end in order for freedom to grow, and a stable way of life to replace checkpoints, ammunition, fear and death. Lastly, out of respect for all of the artists who trusted us with their stories we decided it was best to create two separate series of short films. Each series stands alone, holding space for the artists and their creations, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions about the relationship between Israel and Palestine. It was important to us that both groups of artists feel safe to express their stories truthfully. In order to ensure that safety, we had to allow the both communities of artists to have their own cinematic spaces.

Beyond the Frontlines

Tales of Resistance and Resilience from Palestine

by Alexandra Dols, docu 73 min., France 2016.
Language English, Arabic, French with Arabic, English subtitles.
Producer Alexandra Dols
Production Company, Hybrid Pulse, 85 Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, 75011 Paris, France
E-mail: hybridpulse8@yahoo.fr
Trailer: www.youtube.com

The film takes us on a journey both within our own minds and on the roads of Palestine, led by Palestinian psychiatrist and writer Dr. Samah Jabr. An heir to anticolonial psychiatrist Dr. Frantz Fanon, she exposes the psychological strategies and consequences of Israeli occupation, and the ways in which Palestinians have learned to cope.

Beyond the landscape
In Beyond the Landscape, Amal, a Palestinian from Nablus now living in exile in France, views documentary footage of children living in the refugee camps of Jordan as they draw and describe postcards from cities they have never seen. As Amal translates their words and reflects on their choices, a virtual dialogue is composed, linking her own memories of home with the children’s imaginings of distant lands.
Beyond the mirage: the face of occupation (2012)
Americans for a Just Peace in the Middle East, 2002, 48 min., VHS. Neuneubel, founder of Americans for a Just Peace in the Middle East, discusses some of the major daily realities Palestinians face: roadblocks, destruction of houses, military brutality. Interviews with Alex Awad, Jeff Halper, Allegra Pacheco and others give powerful insights into the bases of the occupation. Powerful but not strident, this is an engaging, effective teaching tool.
Beyond the Walls

We follow Arabs released from Israeli jails as they attempt to adapt to their new lives on the outside.
Ahmed Adnan al-Ramahi docu 2012
www.aljazeera.com
“Nothing is harsher than imprisonment. It’s the cruelest form of torture.”

A former Palestinian prisoner
This film tells the story of Arab and Palestinian captives who were detained in Israeli jails and how they had to adapt to a new life after their release.

Upon release, the prisoners faced a number of difficulties adjusting to a new life of freedom, albeit within an occupied territory.

They explain their mixed feelings about the changes in society and the political landscape experienced upon being released from the day-to-day monotony of prison life.
Beyond the Walls contains beautifully-filmed interviews and novel graphics to provide a moving portrait of the interviewees and the emotions and feelings they are describing.
Anwar Yaseen
“Freedom is not something physical. It’s a philosophical idea. 

You get used to a daily routine and you don’t appreciate it until you are forbidden from doing it. I never opened a door or even touched the handle of a door for 17 years. I didn’t walk on sand for a long time. People walk on sand and grass every day. But they never appreciate what this means. Not until they are forbidden from doing it. 

People shake hands with others. We were deprived of these little details. This is the philosophical idea of freedom.”
Mahmoud Mishlawi

“Life in prison is free of hypocrisy …. We had nothing to lose. We were ready to face anything. Almost all of us were sentenced to life imprisonment. 

I felt like a stranger in the ‘outside world’ for a long time …. I felt a new life was ahead of me. I felt like a stranger among my family and friends. It was distressing. I couldn’t sleep. I was in a constant state of anxiety.  

I was in better intellectual and social harmony with my fellow detainees.”
Tahseen al-Halabi

“It was a challenge. Living under the strict rules and brutal conditions imposed on us by the prison authorities. 
We took up the challenge to cope with prison life. 

When we were released we were keen to live. But life was different. We slept on a 2cm-wide mattress for 12 years. Now we have beds and blankets. We jumped on the bed like little kids.”
Tereza Halasa

“None of my family dares to touch me to wake me. I’d immediately hit them. They call out from far away. In jail, they used to hit the keys on the bars to wake us up.
Everything was different when we were released ….
Those who have been in prison should undergo medical tests and rehabilitation on leaving. Especially since many detainees were young. It’s not much to ask for. But we need someone to make us understand how the society has changed.”
Ahmed Abu Hedbah
“You’re locked in a room filled with 20 others. You see them day and night. 

After five or 10 days you’ve said all there is to say. After that, you’re just repeating yourself. 

You find yourself breaking down.”
Ahmed Abu al-Sukkar
“I don’t regret the 27 years I spent in jail. People respect me for it. I get treated well wherever I go – not only by old people, but also by the young; especially those whom we raised in jail.

I don’t regret those years. I only regret the present days.
We have the right to liberate Palestine. We don’t only want parts of the West Bank. We demand the land beyond the 1967 border. But unfortunately, even a third world war won’t remove those settlements. Let’s be honest.”
Saleh Abu Laban
“After 15 years of oppression and being addressed as a ‘saboteur’, in a moment I became a national hero. I became a human being. 

When we go to a restaurant I refuse to sit at tables facing the wall. Sitting facing a wall reminds me of jail. It means humiliation and insecurity. I never again want to sit facing a wall.”
Source: Al Jazeera

Bil'in habibti (bil'in my love)

The village of Bil’in is about to lose over a half of its territory to the Wall and to the settlement of Modi’in Elite. The residents of the village decide to embark on a struggle against the construction of the barrier and are joined by international and Israeli activists. Director, Shai Carmeli Pollak joins the village’s struggle for over a year, focusing on two central figures: Mohamed, a member of the village’s local committee against the wall, and Wagee, farmer and father of ten, who is losing the majority of his land to the wall and the settlement. The film reveals the relationship formed between the villagers and activists, against the back of their struggle. The film explores a struggle for nonviolent resistance and exposes the military’s use of undercover infiltrators (mustaravim) in order to “justify” the use of brutal force against villagers and activists alike. www.youtube.com

Birth
Dima Abu Ghoush’s short is a period piece, set in a Palestinian village during the 1970s, where seven year old Farah lives along with her mother Sara. Sara is nine months pregnant, and as Farah’s father is absent, it falls upon her to master her fears late one night and set out into the dark unknown seeking help when her mother begins to give birth.
Bits and pieces

Language: Arabic and Dutch with Dutch subtitles. Bits and Pieces is centered around self-made video recordings of 7 Palestinians who live in Belgium`. The creation seeks to to offer self-representation of members of the Palestinian diaspora in Belgium. How do they experience life there? Through “Bits and Pieces” of their daily lives the Palestinians share their individual / collective joys and sorrows. A production of Piano Fcatory, Menarg and Victoria Deluxe and Eye on Palestine. With introduction by Ashraf Sarawi. Biography: Ashraf Sarawi worked on Bits and Pieces. He is a young man from Nablus, Palestine and has now lived in Belgium for the past two years. He worked for 4 years as a volunteer with Project Hope, a Canadian NGO, where he had the opportunity to teach photography, digital storytelling, English lessons in various refugee camps. During his stay in Belgium, he volunteered in the reception of asylum seekers. Currently he resides in Brussels for his studies.

Blessed Benefit

Blessed Benefit. (eerste speelfilm van filmer, 90 min. 2012). Kwam uit in o.a. Cannes en won 2 prijzen op het Dubai Film Connection, onderdeel van het 8ste International Dubai Film Festival.
Synopsis: Ahmad, a 47-year-old construction worker, is arrested while trying to help his uncle in a scheme involving imported laptops. In hopes of churning out a quick profit, he uses a client’s down payment intended for building materials to finance the scheme. But after suffering delays with customs procedures, the imported laptops are not released in time and Ahmad, unable to refund the client’s down payment, is sentenced to prison for fraud. On his way to prison, Ahmad meets Khaled, a professional fraudster on his way out of prison following a two-year sentence. In the meantime, Ahmad’s uncle struggles to sell the released laptops before Khaled skillfully manages to steal them. As time goes by, Ahmad adapts to the prison routine with his new friends and loses track of time. Soon before he finishes serving his sentence, he begins to worry about having to leave
prison. As his uncle tries to recover the stolen merchandise, Ahmad finds out that a police officer has confiscated the laptops, holding them at his house for his personal use. As Ahmad sets out to leave prison in a police car, the policeman who confiscated the computers receives a call from his wife informing him that all of their belongings have been stolen (including the laptops).
 www.youtube.com

Blogging Ramallah

by George Azar Jordan/UK/Palestine/Qatar 2012 | Documentary Short | 25 min.
Blogging Ramallah follows five young Palestinians in their quest to address political issues within Palestinian society, the Israeli occupation and social and gender issues that they face on a daily basis. Through their blogs and micro-blogs, the tweets they have created a new way to stay connected, spread the word and continue in their efforts to liberate themselves and their country from continued oppression and occupation.

Blued (Izriqaq)

by Rama Mari 2013 | Drama, 17.5 min

Yassine finds himself in a circle of violence enveloping him and his society.
In a land dotted with killing machines, Yassine finds an easy cover-up for his crime. But even in a place where justice hardly ever prevails, truths surface.
Winner: First place, Sunbird Prize, Filmlab, Ramallah, Palestine, 2016
Trailer: www.youtube.com

Born in Gaza

Hernan Zin, docu 78 min, Spain, 2014
BORN IN GAZA follows ten children telling their daily life under the bombs during the Israeli offensive that devastated the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014. Among them, we find Udai, who lost his house in a bombing, or Malak, a refugee in a UN school. Sondos is in the hospital with serious injuries in her abdomen and Mohamed has no option but collecting garbage to make a living. The awarded director Hernán Zin shows a deep and intimate vision about how violence twists these children’s lives, putting aside any political debate or last-minute event. A deeply human vision of the war and its consequences with an original aesthetic look. Slow motion and time-lapse, as well as drone and underwater shooting, make cinematography one of the essentials of Born In Gaza. A war was barely ever shot so beautifully and disturbing at the same time.
BORN IN GAZA comes to an end three months after the Israeli offensive, with us returning to check up on these children dealing with the terror and trying to have their lives back to normal. They speak up for the 538 dead children and over 3,500 wounded left by the so called ‘Operation Protective Edge’ Israeli offensive.
Nominated for best documentary at the Spanish Academy Awards 2015.
Trailer : https://vimeo.com
De film gaat over het leven van enkele jongeren in de Gazastrook na de verwoestende Israelische aanval in augustus 2014.

Tijdens de gevechten tussen Israel en Hamas in 2014 kwamen 507 kinderen om het leven in Gaza. 3598 kinderen raakten gewond. “Born in Gaza” volgt een groep kinderen die opgroeien in een oorlogszone.

“We waren met z’n achten op het strand voetbal aan het spelen”, zegt Hamada(13). Toen begon de beschieting. Vier jongens, tussen 9 en 11 jaar, werden gedood. Motasem (11) en Hamada raakten gewond. “Misschien moet ik wel naar het buitenland om geopereerd te worden”, zegt Motasem. “Ik heb bomscherven in mijn rug, handen en benen”. Maar erger dan de lichamelijke wonden zijn de psychologische. “Elke dag zeg ik tegen mijn moeder dat ik dood wil” bekent Motasem. “Een paar dagen geleden probeerde ik van het balkon te springen maar mijn zus hield me tegen.”

Bisan’s huis werd gebombardeerd. Haar ouders werden gedood en Bisan (6) liep brandwonden op en PTSS (Post Traumatische Stress Syndroom). Ze vindt het moeilijk om te communiceren. “Ze praat niet over wat is gebeurd” zegt een van haar vriendjes. “Als je er naar vraagt wordt ze razend.”

“De situatie is echt gecompliceerd. Elke twee jaar hebben we een oorlog,” zegt de 13-jarige Mohamed. “Als ik erover nadenk zie ik geen oplossing.” Aangenomen wordt dat 400.000 kinderen in Gaza psychologische hulp nodig hebben. En geweld lokt nieuw geweld uit. Hamada is getraumatiseerd door wat die dag op het strand gebeurde en droomt over wraak. “Ik wil me aansluiten bij het verzet en mijn neven wreken.”

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

Director: Thierry Binisti Israel/France Fiction 2011 90 minutes
A young French woman living in Jerusalem, develops a turbulent yet tender long-distance friendship with a young Palestinian, in hopes to better understand one another. An engrossing and hopeful drama based on the award-winning novel by Valérie Zenatti, starring Hiam Abbas.

Co-presented by: Heeb Magazine, and SAJ-TheSociety for the Advancement of Judaism. www.youtube.com

A Boy, a Wall and a Donkey

Intent on making a film, a group of young boys don’t let limited resources stand in their way. They decide to go where the cameras are… AbuAssad’s (Paradise Now, Rana’s Wedding, Ford Transit) short was produced under the auspices of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as part of a collection of works by artists from around the world. Each film tackles one of the major themes highlighted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: culture, development, dignity and justice, environment, gender and participation. For information on the entire collection visit: www.youtube.com

Breaking News

by Ismahane Lahmar 2017 | Drama Short | 4 min

What could be breaking news in a country where war, violence, and demolition are part of daily life? www.youtube.com

British colonial film in Palestine

British Colonial Film in Palestine, 1917 to 1947: Moving Images from the Imperial Archives.
Though the footage is seldom seen and only now becoming accessible to researchers, Britain’s colonial rule in Palestine was closely recorded on film. This programme of amateur, government, and newsreel footage from the period of British rule has been curated with the Colonial Film project specifically for the 2012 London Palestine Film Festival and represents an unique opportunity to explore that remarkable visual record in the company of preeminent scholars and artists. A selection of works spanning the period by amateur and professional filmmakers will be shown: From choreographed images of Allenby’s triumphant march into Jerusalem in 1917 (a “Christmas present for the British nation”), via “home movies” by troops surged into Palestine for the counterinsurgency during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s, to propaganda pieces aimed at glossing the chaotic British withdrawal from 1947. These extraordinary films, several of which are silent, will be accompanied by commentary from Francis Gooding of the Colonial Film project, who will also give a presentation on the story behind the 1947 Colonial Office work Portrait of Palestine. Francis will then lead a panel on colonial film archives with artist and filmmaker Kamal Aljafari (Port of Memory, 2009), historian Ilan Pappe, and anthropologist Christopher Pinney. Copresented with the Colonial Film project colonialfilm.org.uk.

Broken Strings

Ahmed Hassona, docu 25 min. 2014 Palestina.
The film highlights the state of confusion that replaced the innocent dreams of Gaza kids as result of the Israeli influence and their strife to get out of this state of mind. (Openingsfilm Aljazeera Documentary Festival 2014

Burhan Kashoor

Mohammed al-Fateh Abu-Sneineh 2014 | Documentary Short | 16 min
A young rapper from Jerusalem contemplates quitting his career in the face of overwhelming social, political, and economic challenges.

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