Posts Tagged ‘film’
FILM: Salt of this Sea at our November Meeting
November 10th, 2011 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, meeting, november, oscar, Salt of This Sea
As part of our November branch meeting we’ll be showing the award-winning film “Salt of this Sea” – a 2008 Official Selection at Cannes and Palestine’s OSCAR entry for Best Foreign Language Film.
When? 8pm Thursday 17th November 2011
Where? Room 3, RISC, London Street, Reading , RG1 4PS (above the Global Cafe)
Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Stubborn, passionate and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of “returning” to Palestine. Once there, slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it’s illegal.
- Find out more at the Official Website…
FILM: Valley of the Wolves – Palestine
January 28th, 2011 • Film & Documentary, News
Tags: film, flotilla, gaza, KUTLAR VADISI - FILISTIN, turkish, Valley of the Wolves - Palestine
New Turkish action movie, Valley of the Wolves – Palestine, based on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla:
Showing at Cineplex, Wood Green, London: “KUTLAR VADISI – FILISTIN”
Reviews: Guardian, New York Times (during production) & Al Jazeera report:
Israeli Troops Ordered to “Cleanse” Gaza
January 27th, 2011 • Film & Documentary, News
Tags: Concrete, documentary, film, gaza, idf, interview, Nurit Kedar, Operation Cast Lead, Testimony, war crimes
Stunning new testimony from IDF troops sent into Gaza during Operation Cast Lead from Nurit Kedar’s film ‘Concrete’:
Nurit Kedar’s film, Concrete, hears from Israeli soldiers who blame their military leaders for encouraging a “disproportionate” response to Hamas’s rockets.
They claim their commanders used to “psych up” soldiers before an operation so they were ready to shoot indiscriminately.
This is the first time Israeli soldiers have come forward publicly with claims which counter those of their bosses.
In a report first aired on Channel 4 News on Wednesday, 24-year-old tank commander Ohad remembers being told the night before the operation that the entry into Gaza was to be “disproportionate”.
Once into Gaza, he says his orders were unambiguous: “We needed to cleanse the neighbourhoods, the buildings, the area. It sounds really terrible to say “cleanse”, but those were the orders….I don’t want to make a mistake with the words.”
The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] has said its operational orders during the war emphasised “proportionality” and “humanity”.
The importance of minimising harm to civilians was made clear to soldiers, the IDF said at the time. By the end of the 22 day long operation some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed and large areas of Gaza razed. Ten Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians also died.
Read more at Channel 4 News…
Israeli Embassy response:
“Unlike much of the region, the open society within Israel allows for all allegations such as these to be aired and investigated.
“Israel has already authorised over 100 separate investigations into the operation, five broader investigations, and close to 50 criminal investigations are also taking place.
“All this in the context of having to respond to over 12,000 missiles raining on our citizens – such an operation could unfortunately never be flawless given these circumstances.
“Our judicial process is renowned across the world for its independence. This is a country after all, which holds even the very top of society to account, as has been proven in recent days. This is Israel in the 21st Century, a flourishing democracy, thriving amongst a desert of tyranny in the Middle East.”
Interview with filmmaker Nurit Kedar:
Nurit Kedar’s other films include ‘One Shot’:
GAZA-STROPHE, the day after…
December 9th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: film, gaza, GAZA-STROPHE, the day after...
We came to Gaza in the aftermath of the war, and with our friends the Palestinian Human Rights delegates, we discovered the extent of the Gaza-strophe. The accounts of dozens of witnesses of Israel’s war against Gaza who take us to depth of the Palestinians’ nightmare.
WATCH ONLINE HERE…
(via & thanks to Ted from Liverpool)
BUDRUS: It Takes a Village to Unite the Most Divided People on Earth
November 19th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary
Tags: Budrus, documentary, film, Julia Bacha, village
BUDRUS is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier.
Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat.
While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. Ayed succeeded in doing what many people believe to be impossible: he united feuding Palestinian political groups, including Fatah and Hamas; he brought women to the heart of the struggle by encouraging his daughter Iltezam’s leadership; and welcoming hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory for the first time and join this nonviolent effort. Many of the activists who joined the villagers of Budrus are now continuing to support nonviolence efforts in villages from Bil’in to Nabi Saleh to Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.
The only scheduled UK screening is in York on November 29 – Worldwide theatrical release information is here
Al Jazeera has had extensive coverage of the film, including interviews with filmmaker Julia Bacha on Riz Khan and The Fabulous Picture Show:
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.
