Tickets for screenings at the Barbican Cinema: Standard: £8.50 online / £10.50 full price Barbican Members: £6.50 online / £8.50 full price Concessions: £7.50 Under 15s: £5.50.

Barbican Box Office: www.barbican.org.uk/film Tel: 0845 120 7527 Barbican Centre School of Oriental (11am - 8pm Mon-Sat. Silk St., London EC2Y 8DS and African Studies & 12 - 6pm Sun.) Nearest tubes: Barbican, Thornhaugh St. Moorgate, Liverpool St. Russell Square, london London WC1H OXG Nearest tubes: Russell Square, Goodge St., Euston,Warren St. Palestine2011 Darwin Lecture Theatre UCL, Darwin Building, Gower Street, Film Festival Screenings at SOAS and London,WC1E 6BT UCL, Darwin Theatre are Nearest tubes: Tottenham april 29 – may 11 unticketed and offered Court Rd. Goodge St., on a pay-what-you-can basis. Euston, Warren St. Contents

Welcome to the 2011 Festival p. 3 Highlights and “Live” Events p. 4 Speaker Biographies p. 6 Photographic Exhibition p. 8 Films in Alphabetical Order p. 9 Festival Programme at a Glance p. 43 Box Office and Venue Information p. 44

The 2011 London Film Festival is made possible with the support of the following donors and partners

Consolidated Contractors Company www.ccc.gr Mrs Jenny Hall

www.artschoolpalestine.org www.soaspalsoc.org/ Design and cover image: Piccia Neri www.piccianeri.com image: Piccia Neri Design and cover Welcome to the 2011 Palestine Film Festival

The 2011 Festival runs from April 29th to work of JC Tordai. Barbican Centre, greatly indebted to those filmmakers who May 11th, showcasing some 30 works across Mezzanine Level, April 27th to May 17th have donated of their work, and to the all cinematic genres and by artists from (free entry). See page 8 for details. many speakers whose time and expertise so around the world. enriches the programme. A particular thanks The 2011 Festival boasts over a dozen goes to Festival patron, Karma Nabulsi. For the first time, the Festival now extends UK Premieres, some 20 guest speakers, across three different venues, beginning and a rare chance to view some archival Thanks are also due to the Festival’s at the Barbican Cinema 1 (April 29th – May masterpieces. Several key highlights are crucial financial donors, including those 4th), moving to SOAS, Russell Square (May identified over the following two pages, who prefer to remain anonymous. Many 5th – 8th), and then the Darwin Theatre, UCL, others are indicated elsewhere in this individuals have helped find films, leant Gower St (May 9th – 11th). See the rear of this booklet or on our website. logistical support, or offered valuable programme for maps to each venue. advice. We are especially grateful to Salma Tickets for Barbican screenings must be Following a pilot project last year, we Abu Ayyash, Jumana Abu Oxa, Muzna Al- purchased through the box office – either are pleased to be working again with the Masri, Omar Al-Qattan, Alia Arasoughly, online, by ‘phone, or in person (details on Palestinian School in London to present a Zeina Awad, Khalil Benkirane, Reem rear cover). Online booking is discounted. special afternoon of screenings and activities Haddad, Faycal Hassairi, Dima Salameh, Screenings at SOAS and the Darwin Theatre for Palestinian and/or -speaking Audrey Sanchez, Reem Shilleh, Samia are unticketed and provided on a pay-what- youngsters (8-15) on Sunday May 8th. Tabari, Hanan Toukan, Jan Vaceanu- you-can basis. Details on page 22. Staicov, Pascal Winter, Mohanad Yaqubi, Mohamed Zantout. The Festival is accompanied by its 4th Annual Realising this Festival depends upon the Photographic Exhibition. This year we are generosity of scores of artists, distributors, If you would like to know more about supporting the Palestine Film Foundation, please contact us: delighted to be showcasing the remarkable curators, partners, and donors. We are [email protected] 3 Premieres, highlights and selected ‘live’ events

The 2011 programme includes a wealth Zindeeq – UK PREMIERe Rachel – UK PREMIERe energies of Jean Luc Godard, Joris Ivens, agitator (p. 20). Join her and leading curator Rima Essa, MAP Palestine Programmes of Premieres, Panel Discussions, Q&A + Q&A: Director Michel Khleifi & Producer Omar Al- + Q&A: Director Simone Bitton, Chair: Grietje Baars Agnès Varda, William Klein, Alain Resnais, Sheila Whittaker for this rare chance to Director Katherine al Ju’beh, and Andrea sessions, and archive treats. Such events Qattan, Chair: Nadia Yaqub Sunday 1st May, 18:00, Barbican, Cinema 1 Claude Lelouch, and Chris Marker (p. 15). discuss her decisive work. Becker, MAP Head of Advocacy (p. 25). Saturday 30th April, 14:15, Barbican, Cinema 1 are normally well attended and advance Join director Bitton in conversation with The Festival opens with the UK Premiere Children of the Revolution – This is My Picture When I Was booking is recommended. The following international lawyer Grietje Baars after the American Radical: The Trials of of this enthralling drama by renowned UK PREMIERe Dead – UK PREMIERe is a brief list of highlights. More UK Premiere of her powerful film on the life Norman Finkelstein information on these and other special Palestinian director Michel Khleifi (Wedding and death of US activist Rachel Corrie (p. 27). + Q&A: Director Shane O’Sullivan + Q&A: Director Mahmoud al Massad, Chair: Mike Dibb Tuesday 3rd May, 20:30, Barbican, Cinema 1 Wednesday 4th May, 20:45, Barbican, Cinema 1 Tuesday 10th May, 19:15, UCL Darwin Theatre events is given with individual film listings. in Galilee, Tale of the Three Jewels, Route 181: David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier have created Biographies of speakers can be found Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel Fix Me – UK PREMIERe O’Sullivan’s truly original treatment of 1970s The UK Premiere of this astonishing (with Eyal Sivan)). Director and producer a definitive, “warts and all” documentary on on the following pages. + Q&A: Director Raed Andoni, Chair: Sara Alsaraf revolutionary politics asks how the daughters new documentary brings 2011’s Barbican in conversation (p. 38). Monday 2nd May, 18:00, Barbican, Cinema 1 of two of that era’s most famous female screenings to an end (p. 34). Join director al the prominent scholar who continues to spark controversy in the US (p. 12). Following this Premiere of Andoni’s strikingly militants relate to their mothers’ pasts. Join Massad both for this closing Barbican event Tears of Gaza – UK PREMIERe the director following this Premiere to discuss and at SOAS the following evening, where he + Q&A: Director Vibeke Løkkeberg, Chair: Dina Matar original “docu-therapy” film, join the director Shout Sunday 1st May, 15:30, Barbican, Cinema 1 for a Q&A session led by London-based their remarkable stories (p. 13). will present Recycle, his breathtakingly filmed Wednesday 11th May, 18:15, UCL Darwin Theatre previous work (p. 28). psychiatrist Sara Alsaraf (p. 16). Beautifully filmed and densely layered, A chance to meet the director following the Leila and the Wolves the closing film of the 2011 Festival UK Premiere of this searing study into the + Q&A: Director Heiny Srour, Chair: Sheila Whittaker My Name is Ahlam - UK PREMIERe immediate impact of Israel’s military assault Far From Vietnam powerfully interrogates the dilemmas (Loin du Vietnam) Wednesday 4th May, 18:15, Barbican, Cinema 1 + Panel Discussion in Partnership with Medical Aid for in 2008-9 on Gaza’s civilian population (p. 32). of young Syrian Druze living in the Israeli- Monday 2nd May, 20:30, Barbican, Cinema 1 For 1974’s Hour of Liberation, Heiny Srour Monday 9th May, 18:15, UCL, Darwin Theatre occupied Golan (p. 29). An extremely rare chance to see this 1967 walked 800 Km through war-torn desert to film the war against British imperialism in Following this moving account of one portmanteau gem following its 2009 mother’s struggle to care for her leukaemia- restoration by France’s Centre National du Oman. Ten years later, Leila and the Wolves confirmed Srour as Arab cinema’s boldest stricken young daughter, join an expert panel Cinema. Far From Vietnam is a timeless tour to discuss issues raised in the film: director de force of political filmmaking uniting the feminist filmmaker and a key “Third Cinema” 4 5 Guest speakers at the 2011 festival

Mahmoud al Massad was born in Raed Andoni is a Palestinian producer and Institute for Cinema Studies (IDHEC). She holds extensively in the areas of community health, women’s Dina Matar is Lecturer in Arab Media and Heiny Srour was born in Lebanon in 1945. She in 1969. He studied at Yarmouk University, before director who has worked in independent cinema Israeli and French citizenship and describes herself health, and disability rehabilitation. Political Communication at the Centre for Film and was the first Arab woman filmmaker to have a film working in the film industries of Romania, Italy and production since 1997. He is the co-founder of Dar as an Arab Jew. Her political documentaries include Media Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies. selected for Cannes – her The Hour of Liberation Germany. Now living between Holland and Amman, Films, a production company based in . Fix Citizen Bishara (2001), Ben Barka: The Moroccan Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth She is co-editor of the Middle East Journal of Culture Has Sounded (1974) chronicled the guerrilla struggle al Massad has created numerous short films. In 1998 Me is his second feature-length work as director. Equation (2002), and Wall (2004). in 1950 and studied theatre and television in Brussels. and Communication and has written widely on Arab against British colonialism in Oman. Despite critical he directed his debut feature, Shatter Hassan. He later Following the documentaries, Fertile Memory (1980) national identities and news media. In 2010, she acclaim, it was banned in the Arab world. With received widespread acclaim for Recycle, winning the Grietje Baars is an international lawyer who Mike Dibb has been making films for 40 years on and Maloul Celebrates its Destruction (1985), he published What it Means to be Palestinian: Stories of Leila and the Wolves (1984), Srour produced a World Cinema Cinematography Award at Sundance trained in the UK. She co-founded the Al-Quds Human subjects ranging from jazz to fine art, sport, literature, made Wedding in Galilee (1987), the Palestinian Peoplehood (I. B. Tauris). feminist reimagining of Palestinian and Lebanese in 2007, and has followed that film with 2010’s This Is Rights Clinic in Palestine and has acted as legal advisor to and popular culture. These include several films with first feature-length fiction film shot entirely in political history that remains a classic of “Third My Picture When I Was Dead. Diakonia, the Swedish aid body. She is completing a PhD John Berger, notably the BAFTA award-winning series Palestine by a Palestinian. The film premiered at Karma Nabulsi is Fellow in Politics at St Cinema” to this day. in International Criminal law and Critical Legal Theory Ways of Seeing (1972). His The Miles Davis Story, Cannes, winning the International Critics Prize. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and lecturer in the Department Omar Al-Qattan is a filmmaker and a at UCL and has published and lectured widely on issues a study of the legendary jazz trumpeter, received He made a further three features: Canticle of the of Politics and International Relations, Oxford Sheila Whittaker was previously Head trustee of the A.M. Qattan Foundation, a leading Arab related to Palestine and international law. an EMMY award in 2001. In 2004, Mike directed Stones (1990), L’ordre du jour (1992) and Tale of University. She was a PLO representative from 1977- of Programming at the National Film Theatre and cultural and educational organisation. He founded Edward Said – The Last Interview. the Three Jewels (1995),before the documentaries: 90, working in Beirut, Tunis, and the UK. She is the Director of the London Film Festival. She is currently Sindibad Films in 1993 and has produced or directed Andrea Becker is Head of Advocacy for Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land (1996) and author of Traditions of War: Occupation, Resistance Director of International Programming at the Dubai over a dozen works of documentary and drama related Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). MAP is an Rima Essa graduated from film school in Route 181 – Fragments of a Journey in Palestine and the Law (Oxford University Press, 2005) and International Film Festival and a member of the to Palestine. Working as producer, Al-Qattan has independent humanitarian aid agency that works for Jerusalem in 2003. She worked as director of the and Israel (2002, with Eyal Sivan). Khleifi lives and writes on the philosophy and ethics of war, the laws Board of the Palestine Festival of Literature. partnered director Michel Khleifi since the late 1980s. the health and dignity of Palestinians living under Sadaa Media Project – a web-based broadcast teaches in Brussels. of war, European political history and theory, and As director, his work includes Dreams and Silence occupation and as refugees. Andrea has degrees in network specializing in portraying the conflict in Palestinian history and politics. Nadia Yaqub is associate professor of Arabic (1991) and Going Home (1995). development, politics, and international law, and Jerusalem. Since then, her short documentaries have Vibeke Løkkeberg was born in Bergen, language and culture at the University of North has spent extensive time living and working in the included: Under the Blue Sky (2005) and Drying up Norway in 1945. She is an actor, author, and filmmaker Shane O’Sullivan is an Irish writer Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of Pens, Sara Alsaraf is a London-based psychiatrist occupied Palestinian territory and in the refugee Palestine (2004). My Name is Ahlam (2010) is her as well as one of Norway’s best-known feminist voices. and filmmaker based in London. His first feature Swords, and the Springs of Art: The Oral Poetry with an interest in child and trauma psychiatry, camps of Lebanon. first feature-length documentary. She has directed five feature films, includingThe Story documentary RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Dueling of Palestinians in the Galilee (Brill, 2006) particularly that related to conflict or war. Trained of Camilla (1981) and Skin (1985) and published five Bobby Kennedy was released theatrically in the UK and numerous articles on Arab and Palestinian in medicine and anthropology, Alsaraf is currently Simone Bitton was born in Morocco in 1955. Katherine Al Ju’beh is the Director of novels, including Letter to Heaven (2004) and Allied and US in 2008. He has since completed television literature and film. She is currently writing a book on working on a film about Palestinian refugees She lived in Rabat and Jerusalem, before Paris, where Programmes in the occupied Palestinian territories for (2008). As an actor, she has starred both in her own documentaries on Jean-Luc Godard and Cambodian Palestinian cinema. in Lebanon. she has been based since studying at the French Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). She has worked works and those of Pål Løkkeberg. dictator Pol Pot. 6 7 photographic exhibition 443 24 Images of Palestine, 1986–2010

Photographs by JC Tordai Route 443 begins on the shore near Tel Aviv Barbican Centre, Mezzanine Level, 27th April – and ends in Jerusalem. This route has long 17th May 2011 been a vital communication axis, invested The 2011 Exhibition consists of a stunning with geographic, security, and even spiritual series of monochrome prints by renowned significance over the years. It has also been photographer JC Tordai. Spanning three the site of conflicts dating back millennia. decades of reportage from across Palestine, Adopting the playful style of a video “tour this selection of work was especially made guide”, Erez Miller’s documentary brings by the artist for the Palestine Film Festival: together a series of vignettes and character “The photographs shown here were portraits to convey a picture of life around, recorded across a quarter of a century, and along, the highway today. Equal parts during my periodic assignments to the satire and investigative report, 443 offers a region. They offer glimpses into everyday new and inventive take on that rich subgenre life in the streets and in the fields, as I have of films on Palestine/Israel - “the political road movie”. seen it; the consequences of conflict, of dispossession, and of economic struggle.” – Following the screening, there will be a Question and JC Tordai Answer session with director Erez Miller. Director: Erez Miller Duration: 52 min JC Tordai works with PANOS PICTURES (www. Year: 2010 panos.co.uk) and is the co-author with Harvey Morris Type: Documentary of Into the Promised Land (Cornerhouse Publications UK, 1991) and with Graham Usher of A People Called Date: Sunday 8th May Palestine (Dewi Lewis Publishing UK, 2001). Time: 15:30 Venue: SOAS, KLT

8 9 A Boy, a Wall, Abu Jamil St. and a Donkey

Intent on making a film, a group of young Beneath deafening bombs and in tunnels on appears”. Because as long as Israel’s embargo boys don’t let limited resources stand in the brink of collapse, we follow four Palestinian stands, stopping even foreign aid from coming their way. They decide to go where the tunnel workers burrowing under the . into Palestine, the tunnels remain an important cameras are... Abu-Assad’s (Paradise Now, Six feet under the street where meets symbol of resistance and a matter of pride. “Some Rana’s Wedding, Ford Transit) short was the Gaza strip, they laugh while comparing tunnels transport weapons,” acknowledges Abu produced under the auspices of the United the conflict to a cartoon: “it’s always Jerry who Sleeman, but for him, it’s just about “bringing Nations High Commission for Human Rights wins”! But this laughter stops when Israel’s back food, so people can survive”. as part of a collection of works by artists bombs shake the earth. It’s December 2008, and from around the world. Each film tackles Israel’s deadly air strikes, which will destroy Forming part of a thematic session on the Gaza Strip one of the major themes highlighted in the almost all of the tunnels transporting supplies tunnels, Abu Jamil St will be shown alongside Ticket Universal Declaration of Human Rights: from Egypt to Palestine, have begun. When the From Azrael (see p. 35) and Into the Belly of the Whale (p. 18). culture, development, dignity and justice, worst of the bombing stops, the men emerge environment, gender and participation. For from the shells of their former homes with information on the entire collection visit: new drive: “they destroy one, and another one www.artfortheworld.net

A Boy, A Wall, and A Donkey will be screened Director: Hany Abu-Assad Director: Alexis Monchovet & alongside Yellow Mums (see p. 37), Israel Ltd (p. 19), Duration: 4 min Stephane Marchetti and Targeted Citizen (p. 31) Year: 2008 Duration: 52 min Type: Fiction Year: 2010 Type: Documentary Date: Tuesday 3rd May Date: Saturday 7th May Time: 18:15 left: abu jamil st. Time: 16:00 Venue: above: A boy, a wall, Barbican, Cinema 1 And a donkey Venue: SOAS, KLT 10 11 UK Premiere American Radical: The Trials Children of Norman Finkelstein of the Revolution

American Radical is a probing portrait of Ulrike Meinhof (Baader-Meinhof Group) and two radical seventies movements learn? Director: David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier US scholar Norman Finkelstein. The son of below: american radical Fusako Shigenobu (Japanese Red Army) were How did their mothers’ experiences affect Duration: 84 min holocaust survivors, an ardent critic of Israel Year: 2009 the leading female revolutionaries of the early their childhood or colour their views of and US Middle East policy, and the author of Type: Documentary 1970s, emerging from the student revolutions political violence today? Shot in Tokyo, five renowned books including The Holocaust of 1968 to lead attacks on the capitalist post- Beirut, Jordan and Germany, O’Sullivan’s Industry, Finkelstein has been at the centre Date: Tuesday 10th May War generation holding power. Using archive fascinating film tells the stories of Meinhof of successive controversies, notably that Time: 19:15 footage and contemporary interviews, Children and Shigenobu through the eyes of their surrounding his denial of tenure at DePaul Venue: UCL, Darwin Theatre of the Revolution examines the legacy of these daughters while artfully combining home University. Labelled a “lunatic” or “self-hating two women through the eyes of their children. movies, unseen archive foootage, and Jew” by some, an “inspirational revolutionary” On the run or abandoned when their mothers penetrating first-hand testimony. by others, Finkelstein remains a hugely went underground, May Shigenobu and Bettina polarizing figure in the United States. In their Röhl have emerged from difficult childhoods Following this UK Premiere, there will be a Question definitive “warts-and-all” documentary, to lead their own extraordinary lives and offer and Answer session with director Shane O’Sullivan. Children of the Revolution will be preceded by the David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier follow unique perspectives on two generations of short animated film Hasan Everywhere (see p. 17). Finkelstein around the world, navigating political militancy. What did these daughters of between the voices of supporters and critics to generate an intimate account of the man Director: Shane O’Sullvivan behind the controversies. Duration: 96 min Year: 2010 Type: Documentary

Date: Tuesday 3rd May left: children of the Time: 20:30 revolution Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 12 13 Diaries Far from Vietnam (Loin du Vietnam)

May Odeh’s documentary enlists the Finally restored for the 2009 Cannes Film perspectives of three young woman living in Festival, Far From Vietnam was produced in Gaza to bring audiences a vantage on life in the midst of the Vietnam war. Masterfully the Gaza Strip rarely captured on film. Odeh assembled into a unified work by Chris Marker shows these women facing a “double siege”: (A Grin Without a Cat, Sans Soleil, La Jetée) the One emanating from the Israeli occupation, film consists of distinctive chapters directed the other from the quasi-religious authority by Jean Luc-Godard, Joris Ivens, Agnès Varda, that controls the torn city of Gaza today. William Klein, Alain Resnais, Claude Lelouch, Following them throughout the course of their and Marker himself. In each remarkable daily life, Diaries finds these Gaza residents section, these luminary filmmakers of the willing to share their fears, memories, French “left” pursued and reflected on the thoughts and hopes for a better life – one wide contributions their own cinema might make enough to accommodate their aspirations. to the struggle ongoing in Vietnam, while they Filmed a year on from the devastating attacks themselves often remained “far from Vietnam”. of 2008-9, Odeh’s sensitive portrait is rich The result is a searing anti-war portmanteau Far From Vietnam will be preceded by the short film with detail and full of surprising insights into crafted by some of political cinema’s finest Directors: Soup Over Bethlehem (see p.30). Chris Marker, Jean Luc-Godard, life in Gaza today. Director: May Odeh auteurs. Though rarely seen and only recently Joris Ivens, Agnès Varda, William Klein, Alain Duration: 53 min restored to this 35mm print, Far From Vietnam Resnais, Claude Lelouch Diaries will be screened alongside the short oral Year: 2010 remains one of the most powerful works of Duration: 115 min history work, Manshiyya (see p. 21). Type: Documentary cinematic protest ever fashioned. Moreover, the Year: 1967 Type: Hybrid th questions it asks, both of cinema and of political Date: Friday 6 May Date: Monday 2nd May Time: solidarities in general, continue to resonate 18:15 above: diaries above: far from vietnam Time: 20:30 Venue: SOAS, KLT with those faced when seeking to disrupt imperialism or oppression “from afar” today. Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 14 15 UK Premiere Fix Me Hasan Everywhere

Raed Andoni has a tension headache—one that plays with the concept of detachment from “They were young, talented and free in New Dorit’s own article The Exile’s Return and a has lasted generations and isn’t going to end every angle. In Andoni’s hands, life under York. Dorit Rabinyan was an Israeli novelist visual style inspired by Hasan’s illustrated soon. That’s because Andoni is a Palestinian occupation is rendered with sly humour and and Hasan Hourani was a Palestinian artist. children’s book Hasan Everywhere, this moving living in the Ramallah, where the prospects an unexpectedly light touch, culminating Their passionate friendship, impossible tale of friendship and homecoming unfolds for a stress-free life are elusive. Fix Me follows in a poignant statement about the universal at home, flourished abroad. Then, in 2003 within, and as tribute to, the imaginative Andoni through 20 therapy sessions as he tries longing for a way back home. (Synopsis while visiting his family, Hourani drowned in landscapes of these two young artists. to cure his unwelcome condition. The internal courtesy of Sundance Film Festival) .” Andrew Kavanagh’s short animation terrain of displacement and alienation that is reimagines this true story of Hasan Hourani’s Hasan Everywhere will be screened before the revealed to his therapist and through his daily friendship with Dorit Rabinyan and his tragic UK Premiere of Shane O’Sullivan’s documentary: encounters with friends and family mimics Following this UK Premiere of Fix Me, director Raed death. Adopting a narrative style inspired by Children of the Revolution (see p. 13). the lived reality of thousands of Palestinians Andoni will be in conversation with London-based psychiatrist Sara Alasraf. Prior to the screening of who are themselves displaced from their Fix Me, the short animation Missing will be screened history and homeland. Ironic in tone, stylishly (see p. 24) . shot, and with a haunting score, Fix Me deftly

Director: Raed Andoni Director: Andrew Kavanagh Duration: 98 min Duration: 7 min Year: 2009 Year: 2009 Type: Documentary Type: Animation

Date: Monday 2nd May Date: Tuesday 3rd May Time: Time: 20:30 18:00 above: fix me left: hasan everywhere Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1

16 17 Into the Belly Israel Ltd. of the Whale

In this short drama by the founding director of Forming part of a thematic session on the Gaza Strip “The Israel Experience” is the one of the largest the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. All the while, the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative, Younis tunnels, Into the Belly of the Whale will be shown Zionist outreach projects launched in recent military guides recall heroic sacrifices made (Jonah), decides to make one final tunnel alongside Ticket From Azrael (see p. 35) and Abu years. Its purpose is to create new allies for the in fashioning the one true homeland: the Yom run between the Gaza Strip and Egypt when Jamil St (p. 11). government of Israel. To this end, “The Israel Kippur War, the struggle against Hezbollah, things take a dangerous turn. Finding himself Experience” provides young Jews guided tours or the cultivation of blossoming life in desert stranded underground, Younis ponders of the “Holy Land”. Loushy’s eye-opening soil. While the young vacationers are invited to existential questions and reflects on the film follows one such tour from beginning to return home as “true ambassadors” for peculiar contradiction of being alive though end, accompanying a group of young North Israel, Loushy’s documentary alerts us to the buried beneath the earth... Americans as they undergo an intensive fertile concoction of myth and militarism being pedagogic voyage through a “strong and instilled in these impressionable young visitors. righteous” Israel. She follows these modern-day pilgrims as they are shepherded past contested Israel Ltd will be screened alongside Yellow Mums borders, through Druze villages, over the Golan (see p. 37), A Boy, A Wall, and A Donkey (p. 10) and Heights, and on to Mount Herzl Cemetery and Targeted Citizen (p. 31).

Director: Hazim Bitar Director: Mor Loushy Duration: 24 min Duration: 53 min Year: 2010 Year: 2009 Type: Fiction Type: Documentary

Date: Saturday 7th May Date: Tuesday 3rd May Time: 16:00 Time: above: into the belly LEFT: israel ltd. 18:15 Venue: SOAS, KLT Venue: of the whale Barbican, Cinema 1 18 19 Leila and the Wolves Manshiyya

As bold politically as it is aesthetically, Leila so. Leila’s reflections gradually see this and the Wolves is a signal work in the history central character multiply and migrate as she of feminist filmmaking in the Middle East, transcends a series of female roles, each of and a key moment in the wider shaping which reveal an element of social oppression, of “Third Cinemas”. Using a compelling sustain a call for resistance. Of this pursuit of narrative structure, Srour examines roles new narrative forms, Srour has commented: played by Palestinian and Lebanese women “Those of us from the third world have to in their national struggles. The eponymous reject the idea of film narration based on Leila, an exiled curator preparing an the 19th century bourgeois novels with its exhibition of Palestinian photography, commitment to harmony. Our societies have serves as a launching pad for the film’s been too lacerated and fractured by colonial challenge to erasures of Arab women from power to fit into those neat scenarios.” history. Leila looks to re-centre women Established in the late 1870s, the ethnic cleansing commencing in April 1948, above: manshiyya in Arab history, yet she refuses to mimic a Following Leila and the Wolves, director Heiny Srour neighbourhood of Manshiyya lay to the with Palestinian inhabitants expelled to masculinised discourse of heroism in doing will be in conversation with Sheila Whittaker. northeast of the Palestinian city of Yaffa Jordan as well as Gaza and Egypt. Continuing (Jaffa). By 1944, the neighbourhood was her series of oral history films produced with Director: Heiny Srour home to some 12,000 Palestinians as well Zochrot, this short film by Raneen Jeries Director: Raneen Jeries Duration: 90 min as 1,000 Jews. It was well known locally for documents the testimonies of Saleh Masri Duration: 14 min Year: 1984 its Cafe Al Ansharah, a prominent meeting and Iftikhar Turk, two internally displaced Year: 2010 Type: Fiction/ Experimental place for public officials, political leaders, and Palestinian refugees from pre-1948 Manshiyya. Type: Documentary Co-presented with Birds Eye View Film Festival businessmen. But due to its location north of Date: Wednesday 4th May Jaffa’s centre, and hence between that town Manshiyya will be screened before the UK Premiere of Date: Friday 6th May Time: Time: 18:15 above: leila and the wolves and Tel Aviv, Manshiyya soon become a target May Odeh’s Gaza-based documentary: Diaries 18:15 Venue: Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 for Zionist military and expulsion plans, its (see p. 14). SOAS, KLT www.birds-eye-view.co.uk 20 21 Palestinian Film and Folk Dance for Youth gaza’s winter

sunday may 8th, 14:00 Both films are in Arabic with English subtitles Recommended ages: 8-15 Gaza’s Winter is a collection of 12 short Gaza’s Winter will be screened alongside Of Flesh and films made by filmmakers from around the Blood (see page 38) and Home (see page 24). The Chewing Gum Gang and I i am in Jerusalem world. Winter 2008: the bombardment of A young Palestinian girl chronicles her When Abdullah visits Jerusalem for the first Gaza leaves some 1,417 Palestinians dead, attempt to work with a group of children time, he meets people of various religions, over 10,000 homes destroyed and thousands who sell chewing gum on street corners in ages, and professions, striking up spontaneous severely and permanently injured. As these Ramallah, charting her relationship with them conversations with them all. Mona Jaridi’s fun- agonies unfolded, a group of filmmakers as well as their relationships with each other filled, fact-rich doc gives a loving portrait of life based in Ramallah met in an attempt to direct and society. in Jerusalem through young Palestinian eyes. their outrage into a creative collective effort. Filmmakers within and beyond Palestine were Director: Isra Oudeh Director: Mona Jaridi invited to submit short works. The result was Duration: 15 min Duration: 37 min Gaza’s Winter, a diverse and often striking Type: Documentary Type: Documentary collection of global meditations on the war waged on Gaza that winter. The collection Followed by comprises work by the following directors: producer: A Dabkah Folk Dance Workshop Islam al Burbar (Gaza), Tareq Elayyan (Gaza), Najwa Najjar Duration: 38 min Dima Hamdan (UK), Fahad Jabali (Iceland), This event will take place at the Palestinian School, located in: Year: 2009 Ravenor Primary School , Ruislip Rd, Pilar Tavora (Spain), Salim Abu Jabal (Golan Type: Various Greenway Gardens, Greenford, London UB6 9TT Heights), George Azar (Palestine/Jordan), www.palschool.org th NB: Advanced registration only. Adult accompanied by child only. Ismail Habbash (Ramallah), Mathieu Cauville Date: Saturday 8 May To register, email all names to: [email protected] (France), Khmais Hmaid (Tunis), Raed al Time: 16.00 Registration deadline: 5pm, Friday May 6th Helou (Ramallah), and Omar Hamilton (UK). Venue: SOAS, KLT

22 23 UK Premiere Missing My Name Is Ahlam

“A window opens on a child who lives in a war While fighting for her daughter’s right to My Name is Ahlam is a profoundly moving torn area where he longs for his past peaceful receive adequate treatment for leukaemia, portrait of mother and daughter in crisis and life.” Tariq Rimawi’s entrancing stop-motion Aisha – a Palestinian woman living in the an exploration of one woman’s strength under animation was produced while completing – undergoes a rapid process of enormous duress. a Masters degree at the International Film empowerment. Suddenly, this embattled School of Wales in 2010. woman is no longer afraid to stand up; My Name is Ahlam is presented in partnership with not only to the occupiers hampering her Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). MAP is an independent humanitarian aid agency that works Missing will be screened before the UK Premiere of movement and access to life-saving medical for the health and dignity of Palestinians living Raed Andoni’s Fix Me (see p. 16). services, but to the constraints of conservative under occupation and as refugees. Following the family norms, to medical authorities film, director Rima Essa will be joined for a panel themselves, and to anyone else who stands in discussion with Kathy Al Ju’beh and Andrea Becker, both of MAP. the way of her daughter’s treatment.

Director: Tariq Rimawi Director: Rima Essa Duration: 3 min Duration: 74 min Year: 2010 Year: 2010 Type: Animation Type: Documentary

nd Date: Monday 2 May Date: Monday 9th May Time: 18:00 right: missing above: my name is ahlam Time: 18:15 Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 Venue: UCL, Darwin Theatre

24 25 UK Premiere (No) Rachel Laughing Matter

Convinced that humor knows no frontiers, stories mocking the residents of Simone Bitton (Wall, Citizen Bishara) quietly concluded that Corrie had died young filmmaker Vanessa Rousselot embarks (the classic butts of Palestinian jokes) to has crafted a dispassionate but devastating in an accident. Bitton’s stirring film moves on an unusual quest: to search for humor self-deprecating political quips and essay investigating the circumstances of between this “official” version of events and in the West Bank. At first she finds only bittersweet anecdotes about the absurdity Rachel Corrie’s death. Rachel looks to capture the testimony of soldiers, witnesses, and disillusionment – “our whole situation is a of everyday life, the director’s investigation the spirit of Corrie’s youth and fellow activists, as well as that of Corrie’s joke”. But little by little, Rousselot uncovers plunges her deep into Palestine’s peculiar her political commitment, while delivering a family and friends, and her own voice, and reveals Palestine’s own vibrant culture comedic universe, one in which bright rigorous excavation into the killing of recorded in a journal. of humor – one that occasionally challenges glimmers of hope and humanity endure the US peace activist and International conventional expectations. From inane in the shadow of conflict. Solidarity Movement member in Gaza Following this UK Premiere of Rachel, director in 2003. A few weeks after her death, an Simone Bitton will be in conversation with international law scholar and activist Grietje Baars. internal inquiry by Israeli military police

Director: Vanessa Rousselot Director: Simone Bitton Duration: 55 min Duration: 100 min Year: 2010 Year: 2009 Type: Documentary

Type: Documentary Date: Tuesday 10th May Date: Sunday 1st May Time: 18:00 above: (No) laughing matter left: rachel Time: 18:00 Venue: UCL, Darwin Theatre Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 26 27 Recycle Shout

“What makes a terrorist?” In Zarqa, Jordan’s The film slowly unravels the hidden agents Born in the Golan Heights, Druze buddies at home and apparently have to be second largest city, this is a much-debated of terrorism as poverty, humiliation, lack of Ezat and Bayan have lived their entire lives careful about what they say. They find people question. Zarqa’s political Islamists are a force opportunity and religious doctrine define the under Israeli occupation. Thanks to Syrian from the Golan Heights often get the cold here and Zarqa was the birthplace of Abu Musa daily rhythms of a man and his family, against parentage, they get the opportunity to study shoulder, and are soon compelled to choose al Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia the backdrop of an age of jihad that spans in Damascus. But students can cross the between their new home and the village of until he was killed by US forces in 2005. Many the globe. In contrast to the dramatic daily border just once annually, meaning they their birth. From “Shouting Hill”, on the here knew al Zarqawi and Zarqa continues to headlines about Islam and the “war on terror”, can’t visit home for 12 months. With a solid border between Syria and the occupied Golan be a source of recruits to the jihad. Inspired by Recycle suggests that evil acts can emerge from dose of self-confidence and testosterone, these Heights, Ezat and Bayan now call out to their his news reporting on al Zarqawi and Al Qaeda, the most ordinary of circumstances. young men depart seeking adventure. families left behind. filmmaker Mahmoud al Massad returns to In Damascus, they hope to discover Arab roots Zarqa, where he grew up, to make Recycle. With Following the screening, director Mahmoud al Massad and “live the dream”. But the capital turns out Shout is the closing film of the 2011 London ravishing cinematography, al Massad charts will be join us for a Question and Answer session. Note to be a drab metropolis where they don’t feel Palestine Film Festival. also that Al Massad’s latest film, This is My Picture the daily life of a devout man trying to survive When I Was Dead will receive its UK Premiere during in one of Zarqa’s poorest neighbourhoods. the 2011 Festival (see p. 34).

Director: Mahmoud al Massad Directors: Ester Gould and Duration: 80 min Sabine Lubbe Bakker Year: 2007 duration: 85 min Type: Documentary Year: 2009 Type: Documentary Date: Thursday 5th May Date: Wednesday 11th May Time: 18:15 Time: 18:15 above: recycle left: shout Venue: SOAS, KLT Venue: UCL, Darwin Theatre

28 29 Soup Over Bethlehem Targeted Citizen (Mloukhieh)

Larissa Sansour’s video art short depicts an variety of passports, jobs, and degrees. These Targeted Citizen was released by Adalah: “Adalah’s film is an urgent exposure of a ordinary Palestinian family, the artist’s own, diasporic traits, present in all Palestinian The Legal Centre for Minority Rights in problem that’s routinely dismissed as fictional, around a dinner table on a rooftop overlooking family histories, lend a globalized quality to Israel to mark the International Day for or lost to the louder, deadlier cries of the Bethlehem. What starts as a culinary life and identity, even under the confines of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a plea to discussion about the national dish being occupation. Under such conditions, perhaps it (2010). The film draws on a range of expert cut the bogus talk of equality or inclusion and served (mloukhieh) evolves into a conversation is the mloukhieh in the serving bowl that most testimonies to survey discrimination against a reminder that it is long past time for Israel on politics, emphasizing a symbiosis of food stably conveys a sense of national heritage - a Palestinian citizens of Israel. While detailing to face up to the distinctly non-democratic and politics Sansour suggests as indicative single constant amidst a sea of fluctuation. de jure inequalities in areas spanning land, treatment of its targeted citizens.” Rachel of the Palestinian experience. But rather And so, the meal itself comes to figure as housing, employment, education, civil, and Shabi, The Guardian, April 9th 2010. than positing a caricatured national type, a gastronomic anchoring of a Palestinian political rights, Targeted Citizen also exposes Soup Over Bethlehem shows national identity identity in eternal flux. (and lampoons) popular racisms through Targeted Citizen will be screened alongside Yellow stereotypes thoroughly disrupted – the Arabic a series of on-the-street interviews by Mums (see p. 37), Israel Ltd. (p. 19), and A Boy, A spoken at the table is interrupted by English, Soup Over Bethlehem will be screened alongside Palestinian comic duo Shammas-Nahas. Wall, and A Donkey (p. 10). while family members hold an international Far From Vietnam (see p. 15).

Director: Larissa Sansour Director: Rachel Leah Jones / Adalah Duration: 10 min http://www.adalah.org/eng/ Duration: 15 min Year: 2006 Year: 2010 Type: Video Art Type: Documentary

Date: Monday 2nd May Date: Tuesday 3rd May Time: Time: 18:15 20:30 above: soup over bethlehem left: targeted citizen Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1

30 31 UK Premiere UK Premiere Tears of Gaza The Kingdom of Women

Emotionally devastating, Tears of Gaza is less families and children’s bodies are pulled from The story of the women of Ein El Hilweh rebuild the camp itself, as well as to protect a conventional documentary than a record ruined homes... Recounting the horrors she refugee camp between 1982-1984 represents and provide for their families while the men – one presented with minimal gloss – of has witnessed, one young girl collapses and an important, if rarely recalled, chapter in remained captive. Moving between past the 2008-2009 bombing of Gaza by Israeli sinks out of frame. With this unflinching, if the history of Palestinian refugee women in and present, between animation and video forces. Working with footage provided by often distressing, depiction of the 2008-9 Lebanon. Following the Israeli invasion of techniques, Dahna Aburahme’s powerful Palestinian cameramen working during offensive, Løkkeberg demands we confront Lebanon in 1982, the Ein El Hilweh camp account of this period draws on the testimony and after the offensive, director Vibeke the unbearable costs of waging such wars was destroyed and its men imprisoned. The of seven women, while emphasising the Løkkeberg explores the impact of the attacks against civilian populations. Kingdom of Women documents the community importance of all women’s contributions to on the civilian population. The resulting film organizing spirit of the women during this the survival of the Palestinian community in shuttles between the actual bombings and Following this UK Premiere of Tears of Gaza, period, showing how they managed to Lebanese exile during this era. their aftermath – on the streets and in the director Vibeke Løkkeberg will be in conversation with Dina Matar. hospitals. The footage is as indelible as it is horrifying: White phosphorous rains over

Director: Vibeke Løkkeberg Director: Dahna Aburahme Duration: 83 min Duration: 54 min Year: 2010 Year: 2010 Type: Documentary Type: Documentary

Date: Sunday 1st May Date: Friday 6th May Time: 15:30 Time: above: tears of gaza left: the kingdom of women 19:30 Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 Venue: SOAS, KLT

32 33 UK Premiere This is My Picture Ticket From Azrael When I Was Dead

Athens, 1983. The world press reports that ground to dust. Al Massad’s bold stylistic Abdallah Al Ghoul’s short documentary charts passages flowing with essential goods and 4-year-old Bashir is killed in the assassination approach stretches the limits of established the efforts of a group of young Palestinian supplies. Winner, “Special Mention”, Dubai of his father, a top PLO lieutenant. But what documentary making to tell a very personal men digging a tunnel extending from Rafah, International Film Festival, Documentary if death is not the end of his journey? What story, the reality of which is far stranger in the Gaza Strip, through to Egypt. Shot in Section, 2010. if, in life, like his father, Bashir was today than fiction. low light and with minimal technical support, deeply political. Yet, rather than expressing the film provides an unvarnished glimpse into Forming part of a thematic session on the Gaza Strip himself with weapons, he uses a means he Following this UK Premiere of This is My Picture the terrifying conditions and strong sense tunnels, Ticket From Azrael will be shown alongside loved as a child: drawing. Bashir Meraish has When I Was Dead, director Mahmoud al Massad of camaraderie that characterise the life of Into the Belly of the Whale (see p. 18) and Abu Jamil St (p. 11). today become the finest political cartoonist will be in conversation with Mike Dibb. Note also young workers keeping these dangerous that al Massad’s previous film, Recycle, is showing in Jordan. Now 29 years old, he lives on to in the 2011 Festival (see p. 28). witness the dream of Palestinian liberation he and his father died for being steadily

Director: Mahmoud al Massad Director: Abdallah Al Ghoul Duration: 83 min Duration: 30 min Year: 2010 Year: 2009 Type: Documentary Type: Documentary

Date: Wednesday 4th May Date: Saturday 7th May Time: Time: 20:45 above: this is my picture 16:00 Venue: left: ticket from azrael Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 when i was dead SOAS, KLT

34 35 Wilders: the Movie Yellow Mums

The Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders Geert Wilders really is, who the people giving In Firas Khoury’s award-winning short drama, generates discussion, anger, or admiration him their vote are, and why he has become so the young Nizar is a devout but introverted wherever he goes. In the Dutch 2010 successful. Before as well as during the Dutch altar boy, often mocked by his peers for his elections, Wilders’ “Party for Freedom”, or elections, the filmmakers seek insights into quirky ways and sartorial “errors” (these PVV, achieved a major boost, becoming the the motivations of Wilders and his supporters. include a tendency to combine socks with third largest political party in the Netherlands. This investigation leads them to examine a sandals). When Nizar joins the other children Filmmakers Joost van der Valk and Mags global alignment of far-right and Islamophobic on an annual Easter egg hunt and traditional Gavan are alarmed as well as fascinated by political forces, as the film takes us on a competition in the village, his religious faith the phenomenal rise of this charismatically journey from the Netherlands to London and below: wilders: the movie inspires a surprising degree of competitiveness. inspired political force. Their film asks who the United States, before ending up in Israel. But when Nizar uncovers a “fake egg”, his Christian convictions are challenged. Khoury’s beautifully photographed debut is a sensitive cultural comedy that will captivate audiences of all ages.

Director: Joost van der Valk Director: Firas Khoury & Mags Gavan Duration: 32 min Duration: 70 min Year: 2010 Year: 2010 Type: Fiction Type: Documentary Date: Sunday 8th May Date: Tuesday 3rd May Time: Yellow Mums will be screened alongside Israel Ltd Time: 17:00 above: yellow mums 18:15 Venue: SOAS, KLT (see p. 19), Targeted Citizen (p. 31), and A Boy, A Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1 Wall, and A Donkey (p. 10). 36 37 UK Premiere Zindeeq

Zindeeq is the latest work by pioneering hours M spends awaiting dawn – a wait that Palestinian filmmaker, Michel Khleifi drives him into the depths of his mythical (Wedding in Galilee, Tale of the Three Jewels). town, Nazareth, and which forces him to It tells the story of M, a Palestinian filmmaker confront a tension whereby nostalgia for the living in Europe. M is working in Palestine past conflicts with a desire to live freed of that on a documentary based on witness accounts past… Zindeeq’s layered narrative structures of the 1948 expulsions. Abruptly, M receives combine with a striking visual register to a call from his sister in Nazareth telling him make Khleifi’s long-awaited return to fiction that his nephew has killed a man during an unforgettable and rewarding experience. a scuffle and the whole family is now in danger, including him, due to vendetta codes Following both screenings of Zindeeq at the sanctioning revenge killings. M is told to stay 2011 Festival, director Michel Khleifi and producer Omar Al-Qattan will be in conversation with Karma far from Nazareth. But he refuses, returning Nabulsi (Friday 29th April) and Nadia Yaqub home at three in the morning. Khleifi’s lyrical (Saturday 30th April). film then takes us on a journey through the

Director: Michel Khleifi Duration: 85 min Year: 2009 Type: Fiction Date: Friday 29th April (Opening Gala) & Saturday 30th April Time: 19:30 (Friday), 14:15 (Saturday) right: zindeeq Venue: Barbican, Cinema 1

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Language centre

T Schedule at a glance

Tuesday 3rd May, 20:30 th th Friday 29 19:30 Children of the Revolution + Hasan sunday 8 May, 14:00 Zindeeq + Q&A (Opening Gala) Everywhere +Q&A Youth Outreach Programme Barbican, Cinema 1 Barbican, Cinema 1 see p. 22 for details

Saturday 30th April, 14:15 Wednesday 4th May, 18:15 Sunday 8th May, 15:30 Zindeeq + Q&A Leila And The Wolves + Q&A 443 + Q&A Barbican, Cinema 1 Barbican, Cinema 1 SOAS, KLT

Sunday 1st May, 15:30 Wednesday 4th May, 20:45 Sunday 8th May, 17:00 Tears of Gaza + Q&A This Is My Picture When I Was Dead + Q&A Wilders: The Movie Barbican, Cinema 1 Barbican, Cinema 1 SOAS, KLT

Sunday 1st May, 18:00 thursday 5th May, 18:15 Monday 9th May, 18:15 Rachel + Q&A Recycle + Q&A My Name Is Ahlam + Panel discussion Barbican, Cinema 1 SOAS, KLT UCL, Darwin Theatre

Monday 2nd May, 18:00 Friday 6th May, 18:15 Tuesday 10th May, 18:00 Fix Me + Missing + Q&A Diaries + Manshiyya (No) Laughing Matter Barbican, Cinema 1 SOAS, KLT UCL, Darwin Theatre

Monday 2nd May, 20:30 Tuesday 10th May, 19:15 Friday 6th May, 19:30 Far From Vietnam + Soup Over American Radical: The Trials of The Kingdom of Women Bethlehem (Mloukhieh) Norman Finkelstein SOAS, KLT Barbican, Cinema 1 UCL, Darwin Theatre Tuesday 3rd May, 18:15 Saturday 7th May, 16:00 Wednesday 11th May, 18:15 Israel Ltd. + Yellow Mums + Targeted Into The Belly Of The Whale Shout Citizen + A Boy, A Wall, And A Donkey + Abu Jamil St + Ticket From Azrael UCL, Darwin Theatre Barbican, Cinema 1 SOAS, KLT