The story of a Palestinian girl that left Jaffa after the 1948 war to Cairo, leaving her brother in Palestine. Throughout the 50 years of occupation, she strives to get a permission to visit Jaffa and see her brother again.
Enas I. Muthaffar was born and raised in Jerusalem. She obtained a BA in film direction from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo, Egypt, and an MA in Feature Film from Goldsmiths College, University of London
Enas I. Muthaffar -- 12' (Egypt: 1999)
Majdi El-Omari -- Fiction, 15' (Canada: 1999)
In addition to introducing the political and ideological controversy about veiling, Transparency investigates the more personal reasons and feelings of women toward this issue. The film depicts social and psychological impacts of veiling (and unveiling) through telling the stories of different Muslim women who live in the U.S. One story involves Merve Kavakci, a member of the Turkish parliament who left her country after she was not allowed to practice her role as a PM because she wears a headscarf.
Osama Al-Zain is a filmmaker and writer. He received his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Jordan. After winning the Moris Sheer Award for short videos at The International Competition for Students Artist sponsored by Savannah College of Art and Design, he moved to the USA to pursue his graduate studies in film and video.
Osama Al-Zain -- 30' (USA: 2002)
This short film – made up of Super-8 footage of a family visit to Palestine, shot by the director’s father in the 70´s – looks at a world already lost. By revisiting and reformulating these images as a tourist advertisement, an new image of Palestine emerges – one that may be the fiction of nostalgia, or one which tells the truth of loss through the absurdities of commercial language.
Nabila Irshaid was born in Osnabrueck, Germany. She studied art in Hamburg where she received her diploma in 1999. Since 1994 she has had various international exhibits of her video art and installations.
Nabila Irshaid -- Experimental, 8' (Austria/Germany: 2001)
This is the story of a mother from Gaza, who campaigns to improve the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, and to bring about their freedom. Even after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, her sons remain incarcerated.
Mohamad Ayache -- 21’ (Palestine: 2000)
The film traces the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and the new generation of the diaspora.
Nicolas Damuni -- 10' (France: 2002)
Documentary on the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and siege of Beirut.
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: 1983)
"Makloubeh" or "Upside Down" is the name of a typical Palestinian dish that gives the film its title. Rashid Mashharawi uses the theme of food to explore Palestinian identity. With disarming humor, his depiction of rural simplicity and the bucolic freshness of this shots help him achieve his objective.
Rashid Masharawi was born and raised in Shati refugee camp, Gaza Strip. He is a self-taught filmmaker, beginning to work at eighteen in the cinema industry and acquiring skills on over twenty films before starting himself to write and direct his own. Masharawi’s films portray his knowledge of living under the Israeli Occupation in refugee camps, the new space of the intifada, as well as his constant reflection on cinema narrative.
Rashid Masharawi -- 10’ (Palestine: 2000)
