The Wanted 18
The Center for Palestine Studies is proud to partner with JustVision to host the NY theatrical premiere ofThe Wanted 18 at the Cinema Village on June 19.
This powerful documentary brings to life a remarkable story of nonviolent resistance during the First Intifada. There will be a Q&A with the film's director Amer Shomali and Columbia University Professor and film expert Hamid Dabashi following the screening.
The animated feature The Wanted 18 reveals how eighteen cows in the village of Beit Sahour became an inspiration and symbol of resistance during the first Palestinian Intifada. As the Israeli army searches for the illegal bovines, the story veers from comedy to drama to tragedy - with a large dose of the absurd.
Humorous and thought-provoking, The Wanted 18 shows the power of mass mobilization and nonviolent resistance to the Israeli Occupation during the First Intifada - an era too-often simplistically depicted with stone-throwing Palestinian youth facing armed soldiers. This is a poignant film about nation-building from the bottom up, by the people not the politicians.
Watch the Trailer
Amer Shomali uses fine art, digital media and technology as sociopolitical tools for change. After studying at the Van Art School in Canada, he completed an MFA in Animation at Bournemouth, UK. One of the founders of Zan Studios in Ramallah, Amer works as an animator and illustrator of children's books, posters, and multimedia productions. His work has been exhibited in galleries across the Middle East and Europe. Amer's short film "Dying of the Light" was screened in the UK, Belgium, Lebanon, and Palestine. He was also co-director and animator of "Animated Concerns", the animated TV series, in Palestine from 2006-2007.
Professor Dabashi is a renowned film expert, and the founder of Dreams of a Nation, a Palestinian Film Project, which is dedicated to preserving and safeguarding Palestinian cinema. Dabashi has organized Palestinian film festivals both in Palestine and the United States and is on the advisory board of a number of other Palestinian film festivals worldwide. His edited volume, Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema was the first major multi-author treatment of the subject.