In December of 2008 Israel launched a devastating attack on Gaza. A month of bullets, bombs, rockets, white phosphorus, tanks and bulldozers left 1400, mostly civilians, dead and this section of Occupied Palestine in rubble. Where Should the Birds Fly? is a compelling and moving Palestinian film based on the story of two remarkable young women, the future of Palestine, who personify the struggle to maintain humanity, humor and hope, to find some degree of normality in the brutal abnormality that has been imposed on them and Palestinians.
FIDA QISHTA is a Palestinian filmmaker/videographer who was born in Rafah, Gaza. She began her video work as a wedding photographer in the Gaza Strip, and then began accompanying human rights observers in Gaza, documenting their work. Her reporting, photography and video journalism has appeared in the UK Guardian, the Observer, and the International Herald Tribune. Fida is also a qualified teacher and, in 2004, co-founded with her sister Faten The Lifemakers Center, an after school and tutoring program which serves several hundred children in Rafah. Her first full-length documentary, Where Should the Birds Fly? is a powerful reflection of her work and life in Gaza from 2004 through 2009.
Screening followed by a discussion with Fida Qishta. Moderated by Noemi Artal, CPS Visiting Scholar.
Palestine | 2012 | Fida Qishta | 58 minutes | Arabic with English subtitles
501 Schermerhorn
Columbia University
Enter Gates on 116th Street & Broadway or Amsterdam Avenues
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/356310244483612/