Lifeline to Gaza: The Return

September 5th, 2010 • Action, Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: convoy, film, hassan ghani, presstv, viva palestina

Hassan Ghani’s Press TV documentary following Viva Palestina’s third convoy which started in December 2009.

[6-part playlist - direct link]

FILM: Lemon Tree – Film 4, 1am Friday 25 June

June 23rd, 2010 • Film & Documentary
Tags: film, film4, lemon tree, tv

Lemon Tree on Film 4 FRIDAY 1AM!

The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Navon moves to a house on the border between Israel and the West Bank, with the building sitting on the Israeli side just next to the dividing line. The Israeli Secret Service views the neighboring lemon grove of Salma Zidane, a Palestinian widow whose family has cared for the area for generations, as a threat to the Minister and his wife. The security forces soon set up a guard post and a barbed wire fence around the grove. They then obtain an order to uproot the lemon trees. [Wiki]

Film4 is on Sky ch.315, Freeview ch15, Freesat ch300 and online via TVCatchup

American Radical at Henley International Film Festival

May 13th, 2010 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: American Radical, film, Henley International Film Festival, HIFF, Jeremy Hardy, Katie Barlow, Norman Finkelstein, oxford, Professor Avi Shlaim

On Tuesday May 25th 2010, the HIFF will be screening the documentary ‘American Radical. The trials of Norman Finkelstein‘ which will be followed by a Q&A forum with Professor Avi Shlaim.

Reading PSC has been invited to attend the event by Katie Barlow and Jeremy Hardy. Members of Reading PSC will be there with our information stall – we look forward to seeing you!

Book your tickets here…

Norman Finkelstein has a mission – to speak the truth. And the truth, as he sees it, is inflammatory to his fellow Jews, including arch enemy and distinguished Harvard scholar Alan Dershowitz.

The son of concentration camp survivors, Finkelstein was heavily influenced by his mother, who became an impassioned pacifist. Finkelstein has devoted his energetic academic career to publishing and speaking out against Israel, and denouncing the invocation of the Holocaust to justify displacement and oppression of Palestinians.

– USA, 84min. Director Nicolas Rossier.

HIFF FORUM & Q&A

Following the screening, there will be a discussion and Q&A session with Professor Avi Shlaim, who features in the film. Professor Shlaim is a Fellow of St Antony’s College and a Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. He is a frequent contributor to the newspapers and commentator on radio and television on Middle Eastern affairs, and has authored many books including The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World.

The evening will be hosted by broadcaster and comedian, Jeremy Hardy, who featured in the critically-acclaimed documentary Jeremy Hardy v The Israeli Army and is a regular panelist on Radio 4′s News Quiz.

FILM: Salt of This Sea

May 13th, 2010 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, french institute, london, Salt of This Sea

The Palestinian film Salt of this Sea, shown at Cannes in 2008, is screening in London at the French Institute from May 21-30 – Book your tickets here…

The first feature film by a Palestinian woman, Salt of This Sea tells the story of Soraya, a third-generation, working-class Palestinian refugee living in Brooklyn, New York. Soraya discovers that her grandfather’s savings have been frozen in a bank account in Jaffa since he was expelled in 1948. Determined to reclaim what is theirs, she fulfills her life-long dream to return to Palestine, but is rebuffed by the bank. It is then she meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, in contrast to hers, is to leave Palestine forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, Soraya and Emad know that in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even it means breaking the law…

“This film is my personal voice, intimate,… it’s the voice of my family, of my village, of my people. It’s the voice of every refugee…” – Saleh Bakri, actor

“Annemarie Jacir’s filmic vision is brilliant, emotional, intense and fresh. Salt of this Sea is absolutely one of the best films I’ve seen in years” -Michael Moore, Director

London Palestine Film Festival 2010

April 1st, 2010 • Film & Documentary, News
Tags: barbican, elia suleiman, festival, film, jaffa, london, palestine film festival, the time that remains

UPDATE: Full program online now…

April 30 – May 6, 2010 at Barbican Film, London

The 2010 programme has recently been finalised and will be richer than ever. Highlights will include Elia Suleiman’s latest feature The Time That Remains (below) – followed by a discussion with the director.

The UK premier of Eyal Sivan’s new documentary Jaffa: The Orange’s Clockwork followed by an expert panel discussion, and a session dedicated to the late poet Mahmoud Darwish – including a premier screening of Nasri Hajjaj’s documentary As The Poet Said. Plus much, much more new fiction, documentary, and art – from Palestine and further afield… check back here in mid-March for full programme details.

MAP’s New Film: Life or Death

March 23rd, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary
Tags: blockade, film, gaza, israel, map, palestinian, the silent war, uk

Medical Aid for Palestinians’ new film:

Life or Death: Medical Referrals from Gaza

The strict closure of the Gaza Strip has impoverished and restricted medical services in Gaza. This increases the need to refer patients for treatment outside Gaza.

The process of obtaining a referral document is not easy, and when a patient manages to obtain it, he or she then has to wait for a hospital appointment to come through, before applying to the Israeli Authorities for permission to leave Gaza.

MAP FILMS looks at the reality of life for Palestinians in Gaza trying to access health services outside the territory.

Viva Palestina Convoy Documentary: Return to Gaza

February 19th, 2010 • Film & Documentary, News
Tags: convoy, documentary, film, gaza, student, viva palestina

Student filmmaker and Convoy member Dale Vincent Smith’s documentary “Return to Gaza” will be released in April.

Listen to Dale’s interview on BBC Radio Derby:

Part 1

Part2

MAP’s New Film: The Silent War

February 17th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary
Tags: blockade, film, gaza, israel, map, palestinian, the silent war, uk

Medical Aid for Palestinians’ new film:

The Silent War: Israel’s Blockade of Gaza

Israel’s blockade of Gaza has been in place for almost three years.

Building on existing closures and restrictions, the blockade means the delay or denial of a broad range of items – food, industrial, educational, medical – deemed “non-essential” for a population largely unable to be self-sufficient at the end of decades of occupation. The blockade prevents access by sea, land and air, effectively closing off a population of 1.5 million Palestinians from the outside world.

This short film examines what the blockade means for the people of Gaza, as they struggle to rebuild their lives over a year after Operation Cast Lead.

FILM: With God on our Side

February 5th, 2010 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: christian, film, stephen sizer, With God on our Side, zionism

When? 2:30pm Sunday 28th February
Where? Christ Church, Virginia Water, Surrey
UK Premiere with Stephen Sizer

With God On Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole.  This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.”

Get more information at WithGodOnOurSide.com

In the Wake of War: Gaza One Year On

February 4th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: film, gaza, map, war

from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

We are pleased to present our first short film, In the Wake of War: Gaza One Year On

This film is based on interviews and filming we did in December in Gaza, in the run up to the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead. In the Wake of War is testimony-based, telling but some of the stories of survival, tragedy, and ongoing hardship in Gaza – with no effective action to end the blockade, no reconstruction, no accountability.

This film is the first in a series of short films which we will release over the course of 2010.  The next film, focusing on the ongoing blockade of Gaza, will be released in February.