Since You've Been Gone (Min Yum Mahrucht)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

Since You Left by renowned actor and director Mohammad Bakri is neither a eulogy to his friend and mentor, the writer and politician Emile Habibi, nor is it an account of the late author's life and work. It is instead a poignant and deeply personal letter to the departed. Bakri's autobiographical narrative in Since You Left revolves around a visit to the gravesite of Emile Habibi. The trajectory of the film unfolds like a conversation between two long lost friends; utilizing stock footage and home movies, Bakri tells Habibi of births, deaths and the events that have shaken the region since his passing in 1996. In Arabic, English Hebrew with English subtitles.

 
 
 

Mohammad Bakri -- 59’, Arabic/Hebrew/English (Israel: 2005)

Slingshot Hip Hop

 

ABOUT THE FILM

Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

 
 
 
Featured
Jacqueline Salloum
Jacqueline Salloum

Jacqueline Reem Salloum is a New York based artist and filmmaker. Drawing on her Palestinian and Syrian roots, her pop-infused work focuses on challenging the stereotypes of Arabs in the media. She has directed several shorts exploring this issue. Salloum’s work is also the basis of a youth education program on Palestine, and she frequently speaks at universities and conferences internationally.

 

Jackie Salloum -- Documentary, 80’, Arabic/Hebrew/English (USA: 2008)

Song on a Narrow Path; Stories from Jerusalem

 

ABOUT THE FILM

A portrait of Jerusalem, through the lives of three people who embody the city: Reem, an artist, Ali, a black political prisoner, and Farouq, who lives on the memories of a glorious past. For them, Jerusalem is a dream that troubles the'd and spirit, between the recurring violence and simple survival.

 
 
 
Featured
Akram Safadi
Akram Safadi

Born in Jerusalem, Akram Safadi is a Palestinian photographer living in Jerusalem. In the 80s, he worked as a news cameraman through the course of the first intifada for Reuters and AFP. After attending Birzeit University, he studied film in Italy. Today he also works in film, both experimental and documentary.

 

Akram Safadi -- Documentary, 52’ (Italy/Belgium/France: 2001)

The States of Things

 

ABOUT THE FILM

"The States of Things" is a B&W film of a Salvation Army jumble sale that is set to an old Egyptian love song by Um Kolthoum. Elderly ladies rummage through jumble at a sale held by the Salvation Army in Glasgow. 'Jumble sales aren't part of the normal capitalist system, so it doesn’t look quite like a Western Europe in the 21st century. And the music also makes the viewer unsure when or where this is.'

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers 2
Rosalind Nashashibi
Rosalind Nashashibi

Originally from Jerusalem, Rosalind Nashashibi was born in the UK of Irish and Palestinian parents. She has an MFA from Glasgow School of Art. Nashashibi is an experimental filmmaker working predominantly in 16mm film. She is the recipient of a number of awards and grants including the prestigious Beck's Futures Award.

 
 

Rosalind Nashashibi -- Experimental documentary, 3’ (UK: 2000)

Staying Alive (Bidna Na’ish)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

An examination of the motives of Palestinian youths who risk their lives to throw stones at Israeli soldiers. The director asks: Why don't they fear death or injury? How aware are they of what is happening around them? What political thoughts drive them to go and possibly fight to their deaths?

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers 2
Ghada Terawi
Ghada Terawi

Ghada Terawi was born in Beirut in 1972 to a couple of Palestinian refugees originally from Al Tireh near Jaffa. She lived in Beirut till the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Moved with her family to many countries, Syria, Cyprus, Egypt, to settle down in Tunisia for few years. Studied in the American University in Cairo where she got her BA degree in Political Science.

 
 

Ghada Terawi -- Documentary, 28’ (Palestine/Switzerland: 2001)

Suspended Dreams (Ahlam Mu'allakah)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

Through the eyes of two ex-militia fighters, a critical playwright and a woman looking for her kidnapped husband, this documentary looks at a Beirut community rebuilding its life after 16 years of war.

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers 2
Mai Masri
Mai Masri

Mai Masri (b. 1959) is a Palestinian filmmaker largely based in Lebanon. Masri received a degree in film production from San Francisco State University. She has directed and produced several award-winning films that have been broadcast and shown internationally. 

 
 

Mai Masri & Jean Chamoun -- 50', Arabic (Lebanon: 1992)

Take My Sister and Give Me Yours

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Suha Arraf
Suha Arraf

Suha Arraf was born in 1969 in the village of Mi’ilya to a Palestinian family. She obtained her BA degree in Philosophy and Literature at Haifa University (1990) and her Master’s degree in Anthropology at the University of Tel Aviv (1994). 

 
 

Suha Arraf -- documentary (Palestine: 1997)

Tale of Three Jewels (Hikayatul Jawahiri Thalath)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

A mixture of realism and allegory set against the backdrop of the Palestinian uprising in Gaza. Youssef, a 12 year-old Palestinian boy, tries to win the love of Aida, a Gypsy girl. Aida offers her heart, but on the condition that he finds her grandmother’s lost jewels. Youssef is so smitten with Aida that he embarks on a mystical pursuit, which leads him to a wise old man, a mysterious scroll, death and resurrection.

 
 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Michel Khleifi
Michel Khleifi

Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth in 1950. In 1970 he traveled to Belgium where he studied television and theatre directing. Considered the founder of modern Palestinian cinema, Khleifi produced and directed several full-length features and documentaries for international release and broadcast. His previous documentary feature, Fertile Memory (1980), was the first Palestinian film to be shown at the Cannes FF and was a groundbreaking work, both on a political and aesthetic level, treating the struggle for women's freedom and emancipation, across the generations and under occupation, in a haunting lyrical style that became all his own.

 

Michel Khleifi -- Fiction, 107’ (Belgium/Palestine: 1995)