Southern Vermont for Palestine & Latchis Arts present
Palestinian Film Series - April 7, 14, 21, 28, 2024
Almost all of the films can be streamed online. Many of them are free. A few are only available to rent or buy. Some public libraries have a program where cardholders can watch them on Kanopy for free. In several cases, filmmakers or distributors provided us with high a resolution copy of their film, either without charge or for a community screening fee. (See film descriptions below the program.)
Program - At a glance by theme
April 7, 2024 - The Nakba & Its Legacy
Framed: The Politics of Stereotypes in the News (2017) - 3 min.
The Nakba: How Palestinians were expelled from their homes (2023) - 16 min.
The Tower (2018) - 74 min.
April 14, 2024 - Secret Negotiations & Palestinian Resistance
The Oslo Accords: Failure or Betrayal (2023) - 21 min.
The Wanted 18 (2014) - 75 min
April 21, 2024 - Life in Occupied Palestine
My Neighborhood (2012) - 26 min.
Understanding Israel/Palestine: Dispossession, Resistance, Human Rights (‘23) - 22 min.
"We Teach Life" (5 min.) and "Shades of Anger" (4 min.) by Rafeef Ziadah - (2011)
The Present (2020) - 23 min.
April 28, 2024 - Palestinian Resilience
Made in Palestine (2019) - 8 min.
Farming under Fire in Gaza (2018) - 10 min.
Return To Seifa Village (2014) – 11 min.
Gaza Monologues Documentary (2010) - 23 min.
Horizon (2013) - 18 min.
April 7, 2024 - Details
Framed: The Politics of Stereotypes in the News (2017) - 3 min.
An animated documentary by Al Jazeera English
Narrated by Sorious Samura, Emmy-winning investigative journalist from Sierra Leone
https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/framed-the-politics-of-stereotypes-in-news/
This short film describes how "Orientalism," a term coined by renowned Palestinian-American Edward Said, perpetuates myths and creates false narratives about people from other cultures. It challenges us to look beyond the caricatures and stereotypes portrayed by the media.
Framed Transcript: Creating Cultural Competencies --> Curriculum --> Countering Anti-Muslim Racism in Schools --> Understanding History & Myths: Lesson 3.1 --> Resources https://www.creatingculturalcompetencies.org/uploads/1/1/2/6/112618631/1_framed_the_politics_of_stereotypes_in_news_%5Borientalism_video_transcript%5D.pdf
Go deeper with Edward Said on Orientalism (1998) - 40 min.
A documentary directed by Sut Jhally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVC8EYd_Z_g
Said discusses themes that continue to shape to our view of "the Orient." He argues that American's shallow understanding of the Middle East produces a deeply distorted image of the diversity and complexity of millions of Arab peoples which leads to the conflicts we see today.
The Nakba: How Palestinians were expelled from their homes (2023) - 16 min.
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080030/israel-palestine-nakba-history
This documentary traces the history of Palestinians from the early 1900's when their land was under the control of the Ottoman Empire up through 1948. It explains how the British joined forces with Arabs to defeat the Ottomans, but then betrayed the Arabs and gave the land to Zionists through the Balfour Declaration. It highlights the massacre at Deir Yassin and recounts how hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes.
The Tower (2018) - 74 min.
An animated feature film by Mats Grorud, a Norwegian director & animator
http://mad-distribution.film/movies/movie1115158.php
The Tower features a girl named Wardi and her extended family who have lived in a Lebanese refugee camp since her great-grandfather Sidi was forced to flee his home in Galilee in 1948. When Sidi gives Wardi the key to his home, she fears that he has lost hope of returning. She searches for his lost hope by collecting stories from their family. This animated story is based on recorded interviews and Grorud’s experience living with Palestinians in Bourj el Barajneh.
Written interview with Mats Grorud, filmmaker:
April 14, 2024 - Details
The Oslo Accords: Failure or Betrayal (2023) - 21 min.
Documentary by Mondoweiss staff. Introduction by Yumna Patel, Palestine News Director
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/the-oslo-accords-failure-or-betrayal/
In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed the Oslo Accords that were intended to direct a five-year “peace process.” Instead, the accords led to increased fragmentation of the West Bank while giving Israel more control over Palestinians' lives and resources. From their initial flaws to the built-in limitations, Palestinians reflect on the ways that the Accords have impacted their lives.
“The Legacy of Oslo: Thirty Years Later” (Sept. 14, 2023)
Panel discussion with Mouin Rabbani, Osamah Khalil, and Phyliss Bennis
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=314528974436334&id=100070573016911
The Wanted 18 (2014) - 75 min
Documentary by Amer Shomali, Palestinian visual artist, & Paul Cowan, Canadian filmmaker
Trailer & info: https://justvision.org/wanted18
https://www.watermelonplus.com/products/the-wanted-18
The Wanted 18 tells the true story of Palestinians in the small town of Beit Sahour, just east of Bethlehem. In the late 1980’s, the townspeople bought 18 dairy cows to boycott Israeli milk. When the Israeli army decided that the cows were "dangerous for the security of the State of Israel,” the search for the bovines was on. The film uses stop-motion animation, drawings, interviews, re-enactments, humor and wit to illustrate the power of nonviolent resistance.
The Wanted 18: Animation (Making of) - 5 min - https://vimeo.com/104035727
Interview with Amer Shomali at the Center for Palestine Studies, Columbia University (2015)
http://palestine.mei.columbia.edu/events-fall-2015/2015/11/11/the-wanted-18
Brochure: “Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance to Occupation Since 1967” published by Middle East Resource Task Force of American Friends Service Committee (2005)
April 21, 2024 - Details
My Neighborhood (2012) - 26 min.
A documentary by Julia Bacha and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi
https://justvision.org/myneighbourhood → "Watch"
Also, a guide with background information & discussion questions related to various issues
The story of unwanted changes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem as seen through the eyes of an self-aware, astute 13-year old boy, Mohammed el-Kurd, and his valiant grandmother. As events unfold, we witness the resilience of a community facing evictions, unwelcome neighbors, legal disputes, and unexpected alliances with anti-Zionist Jews.
Understanding Israel/Palestine: Dispossession, Resistance, Human Rights - 22 min.
A Talk by Mohammed El-Kurd at UMass, Amherst, on Nov. 13, 2023
El-Kurd's talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9CYdlwmiGE
El-Kurd’s website: https://www.mohammedelkurd.com/
His essays published in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/authors/mohammed-el-kurd/
El-Kurd's speech at the U.N. - Review and video (2021) https://www.newarab.com/news/mohammed-el-kurd-gives-scathing-palestine-speech-un
The Present (2020) - 23 min.
A short narrrative film by Farah Nabulsi and Hind Shoufani
In this Academy Award-nominated short feature film, a father and his daughter have to pass through military checkpoints to shop for groceries and bring home an anniversary gift. The film stars Saleh Bakri, a highly-regarded Palestinian theater and film actor. The director and co-writer Farah Nabulsi is an award-winning Palestinian British filmmaker and human rights advocate.
https://www.watermelonplus.com/the-present
Rafeef Ziadah - spoken word poems (2011)
"We Teach Life" - https://www.rafeefziadah.net/js_videos/teach-life-original/
"Shades of Anger" - https://www.rafeefziadah.net/js_videos/shades-anger-london-2011/
Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian-Canadian spoken word artist, human rights activist, and lecturer at King's College in London, U.K. Her performances are now accompanied by original music.
April 28, 2024 - Details
Made in Palestine (2019) - 8 min.
A documentary by Mariam Dwedar, an Egyptian-Filipina filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, NY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-jpOpCw-ME
Made in Palestine goes inside the only textile factory in the West Bank that weaves traditional Palestinian scarves, keffiyehs. Three Hirbawi brothers proudly carry on their father's business. Archival photographs and scenes of Hebron’s Old City surrounded by Israeli settler enclaves set the stage for understanding how the keffiyeh has become an internationally recognized symbol.
https://www.kufiya.org/ --> “About Hirbawi” tells the history of keffiyehs and the company.
--> Blog has a dozen articles including “The Town of Unruly Shepherds” about Beit Sahour, featured in The Wanted 18, and “15 Ways to Wear a Keffiyeh” with photos of models.
“Wear the keffiyeh with pride. Wear it with knowledge” by Samia Abbass - The Commons, Dec. 20, 2023 - https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/745/745abbass
Farming under Fire in Gaza (2018) - 10 min.
A documentary by Matthew Cassel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQFvq0ePf8
Young men rise before dawn and head to the fields to harvest onions. With the border nearby, they have to weigh the danger of Israeli sniper attacks against the need to support their families. At the markets, farmers are hard-pressed to sell their produce for what it is worth.
Background: https://theintercept.com/2018/07/03/israel-palestine-agriculture-gaza/
Return to Seifa Village (2014) - 11 min.
A documentary by Anne Paq & Roger Hill - http://flyingpaper.org/gaza-from-within/
We visit a family in northern Gaza – before and after their home was destroyed in 2014. Four years earlier, two siblings were among thousands of children flying kites on the beach. Amidst the rubble, they describe how the destruction has impacted their hopes for the future.
“If I Must Die” - A poem by Refaat Alareer, references a kite. The Israeli military killed Alareer – a highly esteemed Palestinian professor of English literature, writer, editor, mentor – in Dec. 2023.
Gaza Monologues Documentary (2010) - 23 min
by Kahlil Almuzaian - https://www.gazamonologues.com/documentary
Palestinian youth and their mentors reflect on how they created the Gaza Monologues. In the aftermath of an assault on Gaza, 2008-2009, ASHTAR Theater formed a troupe to write and perform personal narratives about traumatic incidents. In this film, the actors and adults who supported them describe how the collective theatrical experiences transformed their lives.
- Text of Gaza Monologues for 2010, 2014, and 2023: https://www.gazamonologues.com
- Contemporary testimonies by young adult Palestinian writers: https://wearenotnumbers.org
- Gaza Monologues was performed in Brattleboro, Vermont, on Nov. 29, 2023
Horizon (2013) - 18 min.
A short feature film by Zain Duraie - http://www.philistinefilms.com/horizon
Produced by Ossama Bawardi and Annemarie Jacir; filmed in Amman, Jordan
Faten is determined to go beyond the traditional roles of wife, mother, and homemaker. With the support of her community and an opportunity for literacy, she finds purpose and meaning.