A moment at the Bethlehem checkpoint, five years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, tracing the futility of the "peace" accords, as restrictions of Palestinian freedom of movement remain stagnant. The quiet right before a storm, a dream deferred.
Annemarie Jacir has been working in independent film since 1994 and has written, directed and produced a number of films including A Post Oslo History (1998), The Satellite Shooters (2001) and Like Twenty Impossibles (2003). She has taught courses at Columbia, Bethlehem, and Birzeit University. She also works as a freelance editor and cinematographer. Salt of this Sea (2008) is her first feature film, and her second work to debut at Cannes Film Festival. Having been banned from returning to Palestine, she now lives in Amman, Jordan.
Annemarie Jacir -- experimental, 8’, Arabic (USA: 2001)
Majdi El-Omari -- documentary, 60' (Canada, 1996)
What is left for Palestinian farmers who learn that in 24hrs the Israeli Army will confiscate their lands for the construction of a Security Wall? What do people do when their very survival is threatened by one of the world's most powerful armies? PALESTINE BLUES tells the story of a village's confusion, desperation, and resistance, their daily victories and wrenching defeats. Unexpectedly filled with moments of poetry and humor this film's intimate access, unforgettable characters and story structure blur the line between documentary and narrative. Filmed at times with a hidden camera and at times under extreme duress, Palestinian-American filmmaker Nida Sinnokrot gives us a lasting chronicle of a people and their ancient life-giving orchards, ever threatened by destruction.
Award-winning filmmaker and installation artist Nida Sinnokrot's unique style is very much informed by his past. Sinnokrot was part of the Whitney Independent Studio Program, the Made in Palestine exhibit and a number of group shows in the US and abroad. In 2002, he was awarded a Rockefeller Media Fellowship with which he went to Palestine to make a Horizontal Loop installation.
Nida Sinnokrot (2008)
An experimental movie in which the director creates a monotony from black and white pictures from Al Nakba and written scrolls of UN regulations, that all create a sense of how this Palestine is for dummies.
Sobhi al-Zobaidi is an independent Palestinian filmmaker, artist and scholar. He studied economics at Birzeit University and Cinema at NYU.
Sobhi Al-Zobeidi -- Experimental, 16', English (Palestine: 2003)
A brief introduction to some of the main issues associated with the Palestinian Right to Return and why it is a key issue in forging a just peace in the Middle East made by a collective of Palestinian filmmakers based in the United States.
Falafel Daddy Productions -- 10’ (United States: 2001)
This extraordinary record of Palestine from 1917 to 1974, with its compelling and irrefutable archival footage, still stands as a major filmic testament to the complex modern history of Palestine.
Kais Al-Zubaidi lives in Berlin and works as a director and editor. He has worked in film in both Europe and the Arab world.
Kais al-Zubaidi -- 110', Arabic (Palestine: 1984)
“Shababik Falastiniyah” comprises five short films made by young Palestinian directors. Each chose his/her window to show part of daily life in Palestine during the long siege of the West Bank and Gaza.
Ala’ Abu-Ghoush, Ahmad Habash, Esmail Habbash, Dima Abu-Ghoush & Mohammad Jaber -- 10' (Palestine: 2002)
Paradise Now is the story of two young Palestinian men as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives. On a typical day in the West Bank city of Nablus , where daily life grinds on amidst crushing poverty and the occasional rocket blast, we meet two childhood best friends, Saïd (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who pass time drinking tea, smoking a hookah, and working dead-end menial jobs as auto mechanics.
Saïd's day takes a turn for the better when a beautiful young woman named Suha (Lubna Azabal) brings her car in for repairs. From their spirited interaction, it is apparent that there is a budding romance growing between them.
Saïd is approached by middle-aged Jamal (Amer Hlehel), a point man for an unnamed Palestinian organization , who informs Saïd that he and Khaled have been chosen to carry out a strike in Tel Aviv. They have been chosen for this mission as a team, because each had ex press ed a wish that if either is to die a martyr, the other would want to die alongside his best friend.
Saïd and Khaled have been preparing for this moment for most of their lives. They spend a last night at home -- although they must keep their impending mission secret even from their families. During the night Saïd sneaks off to see Suha one last time. Suha's moderate views, having been educated in Europe, and Saïd's burgeoning conflicted conscience cause him to stop short of explaining why he has come to say good-bye.
The following day, Saïd and Khaled are lead to a hole in the fence that surrounds Nablus, where they are to meet a driver who will take them to Tel Aviv. But here the plan goes wrong, and Saïd and Khaled are separated.
Born in Nazareth in 1961, Abu-Assad studied and worked as an airplane engineer in The Netherlands for several years, before entering the world of cinema and television as a producer.
Hany Abu-Assad -- 90’, Arabic/English (Palestine/Germany/France/Netherlands/Israel: 2005)
