When he's not working in his cousin's concrete business, college dropout Jawdat (Razi Shawahdeh), who lives in a quiet Palestinian town inside Israel, usually spends his free time looking for new women to chat up on his cell phone. But when his wireless flirting starts to extend into the West Bank, it catches the attention of the Israeli authorities.
Sameh Zoabi's perceptive feature debut offers a window into a section of Palestinian society rarely seen on screen: Israeli citizens whose daily lives appear removed from the ongoing struggle, yet who often feel they are second-class citizens.
2010. France/Palestine/Israel/Belgium/Qatar. 83 minutes.
Director: Sameh Zoabi
Writers: Fred Rice, Sameh Zoabi
Producers: Marie Gutmann, Amir Harel, Ayelet Kait
Line Producer: Baher Agbariya
Cinematographer: Hichame Alaouie
Editor: Simon Jacquet
Music by: Krishna Levy
Cast: Razi Shawahdeh, Bassem Loulou, Louay Noufy
About the Director: Sameh Zoabi was born and raised in Iksal, a Palestinian village near the city of Nazareth, Israel, in 1975. In 1998, Zoabi graduated from Tel Aviv University with a dual degree in film studies and English literature, and in February 2005, he completed his MFA in film direction at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Zoabi's previous short film Be Quiet won many international awards, including third prize at the Cinefondation Selection at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine named Zoabi one of the Top 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema. Man Without a Cell Phone is Zoabi's feature-film debut.
April 1, 2011 | 6:00 PM | FSLC
April 3, 2011 | 1:30 PM | MoMA
For more information, please visit: http://newdirectors.org/film/man-without-a-cell-phone-ish-lelo-selolari/
Suad Amiry is an architect and a writer. She is the Founding Director of Riwaq: Centre of Architectural Conservation, Ramallah Palestine (www.riwaq.org) which endeavors to protect and develop architectural heritage in Palestine. Professor Amiry taught in the Department of Architecture both at Birziet University and the University of Jordan. She is presently the Vice President of the Board of Trustees of Birziet University. Amiry is the author of "Sharon and My mother-in-Law" (Random House), which has been translated into 17 languages and won the prestigious Italian literary Prize "Viareggio" in 2004. She is the author of several architectural books. Additionally, she was a member of the Palestinian Delegation to the Washington Peace Talks between Palestine and Israel 1991-1993.
29 March 2011, 7:00 PM
Alwan for the Arts
16 Beaver Street (Between Broad and Broadway), 4th Floor
New York, NY
