A Conversation with Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir
A stimulating interview with Palestinian-American film director, Annemarie Jacir, who just screened her latest work “Lamma Shoftak” (When I Saw You) at the DC International Film festival.
Film
Daytime Film: “Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel” by Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan
A three-part documentary, the film “Route 181” follows the borders drawn up by UN Resolution 181 which was adopted by the UN on 29 November 1947 to separate Palestine into two states – one Jewish and one Arab. 56 percent of the territory was attributed to the Jewish minority while 43 percent was given to the Arab majority, with a small central area given over to international supervision. Fifty-five years later, the journey of these two filmmakers along Route 181 traces a border which never actually existed.
Daytime Film: “Roadmap to Apartheid” by Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson
94 mins, 2012, explores in detail the apartheid comparison as it is used in the enduring Israel-Palestine conflict. As much an historical document of the rise and fall of apartheid, the film shows us why many Palestinians feel they are living in an apartheid system today, and why an increasing number of people around the world agree with them.
Daytime Film: “Where Should the Birds Fly?” by Fida Qishta
“Where Should The Birds Fly?” documents the lives of two courageous young Palestinian women, survivors of Israel’s massive 23 day attack on Gaza that began on December 28, 2008. Mona Samouni, now 12 years old and the filmmaker, Fida Qishta, now 27, represent the spirit and future of Palestine.
Evening Films: “Restored Pictures” & “Kings and Extras”
Short documentary “Restored Pictures,” 22 mins by Mahasen Nasser Eldin followed by “Kings and Extras,” 62 mins by Azza El-Hassan. Both films touch on the significant contributions Palestinians have made to their own documentation, respectively in the periods of pre-Nakba and post-Nakba.
Daytime Film: “The Dupes” by Tawfik Saleh
The Dupes, by Tawfik Saleh, 1972, 107 mins: The story is based on the 1962 novella Men in the Sun by Palestinian writer, artist, and resistance leader Ghassan Kanafani, who was assassinated at age 36 with his young niece in a car bombing in Beirut in 1972.
Donkey saddle projects
This October marks the ten-year anniversary of what Palestinians inside Israel refer to as “Black October.”
