Newsletter Resources for Witness Palestine Film Festival, 2016

[Short version, 428 words] Coming soon: 2016 Witness Palestine Film Festival. Now in its fifth year, the Witness Palestine Film Festival seeks to enlighten and entertain us with films and events about the people of Palestine: their culture, their situation, and their struggle. Complete information about the Festival is available at www.WitnessPalestineRochester.org

Thursday, September 15, 7:00 p.m. – The Festival begins with a keynote address, “Justice and Freedom: The Keys to Peace in Palestine” by Miko Peled, author of “The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine”, at Historic German House, 315 Gregory Street, Rochester. There is no charge; the event is open to the community.

Friday, October 21, 6:00 p.m. – As in previous years, the Festival ends with the popular Celebrate Palestine, an evening of Palestinian food, music, and culture. Featuring a performance by Special guest Remi Kanazi, Spoken Word Poet/Activist, the program opens with a performance by The Building Company Theater. Admission $20 ($10 students), at Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Ave, Rochester. Locations: There will be four films at The Little Theatre, admission $10 ($5 students). The last screening event is a program of ‘Shorts’ at St. John Fisher College, Basil Hall, Room 135 (free and open to the community). All screenings will be followed by audience discussion with knowledgeable panelists.

3000 NIGHTS – Sunday, September 18, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. In this documentary/narrative, a Palestinian woman’s random good deed leads to her arrest and imprisonment.

Two Blue Lines – Sunday, September 25, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. This documentary, shot over a period of 25 years, examines the human and political situation of the Palestinian people from the years prior to the creation of Israeli to the present day.

Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! – Monday, September 26, 6:45 – 9:15 p.m. This film is a documentary about events in 2012 when the Seattle LGBT Commission announced that it would be hosting a public meeting featuring a delegation of LGBT speakers from Israel (“Pinkwashing” is the practice of presenting something, particularly a state, as gay-friendly in order to soften or downplay aspects of its reputation considered negative).

A Program of ‘Shorts’ – Monday, October 10, 6:30 p.m. (St. John Fisher College, Basil Hall, Room 135). A free series of five short films (four documentaries and one narrative): “Israel’s Wall: Security or Apartheid?”, “When I See Them, I See Us”, “Batman at the Checkpoint”, “Jerusalem in Exile”, and “My Neighbourhood”.

Newsletter Resources for Witness Palestine Film Festival, 2016

[Long version, 816 words] Coming soon: 2016 Witness Palestine Film Festival. Now in its fifth year, the Witness Palestine Film Festival seeks to enlighten and entertain us with films and events about the people of Palestine: their culture, their situation, and their struggle.

Complete information about the Festival is available at www.WitnessPalestineRochester.org

3000 NIGHTS – Sunday, September 18, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. In this documentary/narrative, a Palestinian woman’s random good deed leads to her arrest and imprisonment. The story begins in 1980 Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, with the brutal, middle-of-the-night arrest of newly married schoolteacher Layal. Her crime: giving a ride to a teenage boy who’s accused of executing a lethal attack on a military checkpoint.

The Idol – Monday, September 19, 6:45 – 9:15 p.m. A documentary/narrative, “The Idol” is the true story of Muhammadd Assaf, who grew up in Gaza and went on to win the ‘Arab Idol’ competition at age 23. “A simply told but thoroughly captivating portrait of Muhammad Assaf, the Gazan singer who won “Arab Idol” at age 23 and became an irresistible symbol of hope for Palestinians worldwide” -- Justin Chang, Variety

Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! – Monday, September 26, 6:45 – 9:15 p.m. This film is a documentary about events in 2012 when the Seattle LGBT Commission announced that it would be hosting a public meeting featuring a delegation of LGBT speakers from Israel. The meeting was to be co-sponsored by Newsletter Resources for Witness Palestine Film Festival, 2016

StandWithUs, a lobby group that links to the Israeli government. This film tells the story of how a group of Seattle activists confronted the commission and what happened after their historic success in having the meeting canceled (“Pinkwashing” is the practice of presenting something, particularly a state, as gay-friendly in order to soften or downplay aspects of its reputation considered negative).

A Program of ‘Shorts’ – Monday, October 10, 6:30 p.m. (St. John Fisher College, Basil Hall, Room 135). A series of five short films:

Israel’s Wall: Security or Apartheid? 3 min. documentary

Israel says it built the separation wall for security reasons to keep Palestinians from the occupied West Bank out of Israel. So why does 85% of the wall run inside the West Bank, rather than on the border with Israel? And how has it affected Palestinian communities?

When I See Them, I See Us 3 min. documentary

More than 60 leading Black and Palestinian artists and activists are featured in this video highlighting challenges that both Black and Palestinian communities are confronting, including militarized policing and the prison industry.

Batman at the Checkpoint 10 min. narrative

An Israeli car and a Palestinian car are stuck in traffic in front of a barricade at the entrance of Jerusalem, coming from the Dead Sea. Yuval and Mahmoud, both seven-year-old boys, find it’s much more fun to pass the time playing with one another. But when Mahmoud's father tries to cut into the other's lane, Yuval's father bumps into his car in an attempt to prevent him, and things start to get complicated. What began as a game becomes an outright battle over a plastic Batman doll.

Jerusalem in Exile 9 min. documentary

Jerusalem in Exile is a film that explores and searches for the visual images of Jerusalem in the nostalgic minds of Palestinians globally. In this film photographer Steve Sabella and poet Najwan Darwish explain how Jerusalem currently exists as a city in ‘exile’, where Palestinians are forbidden from accessing it.

My Neighbourhood 26 min. documentary

My Neighbourhood chronicles the story of Mohammed El Kurd, a Palestinian teenager forced to give up half of his home to Israeli settlers. Mohammed comes-of-age in the midst of unrelenting tension with his neighbours and unexpected cooperation with Israeli allies in his backyard.

Newsletter Resources for Witness Palestine Film Festival, 2016

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