GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY
FILM FESTIVAL
COMES TO NEW ORLEANS
November 15th-18th.

http://gazafestival.ps/

ZEITGEIST, NOLAPS and PATOIS: THE NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

are very proud to announce that Zeitgeist's NEW ORLEANS THIRD ANNUAL MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL has officially partnered with the inaugural GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, the first film festival organized by Palestinians for Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.

In solidarity with the people of Gaza, Zeitgeist will simultaneously present three evenings of films here in New Orleans as they are screening at the festival in Gaza.

Also on Sunday, November 15 and Wednesday, November 18, Zeitgeist will participate (via video conference) with the opening ceremony and Closing night/Awards Ceremony of the festival which are being broadcast internationally through Al-jazeera TV.

This historic co-presentation by the GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL and the NEW ORLEANS MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL is co-presented by NOLAPS and THE NEW ORLEANS HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATION TO GAZA.

FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAM:

Sunday, November 15 @ 7:30 p.m.
GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL – PROGRAM 1

STRANGER IN MY HOME / JERUSALEM by Sahera Dirbas. Stranger in My Home – Jerusalem is the most recent work by filmmaker Sahera Dirbas, who lives in Jerusalem but hails originally from Haifa. It was released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza in June 1967. The film relates the stories of eight Palestinian Jerusalemite families that have been turned refugees in their own city. They recall the events that occurred in the Moghrabi Quarter of Jerusalem during the 1967 war. Each family goes to see its house which was occupied in 1948. The houses are located in theBaqa’a, Talbiyeh, Qatamon and Mosrarah neighbourhoods of what is now West Jerusalem. Some of the families enter their former homes and have a discussion with the Israeli tenants currently occupying their homes. The film also includes an interview with the Israeli architect David Kroyanker who wrote books about these houses, one of which was turned into a museum. (50 mins.) THE SHIP by Ashraf Al Mashharawi. Peace activists decided to sail into Gaza in order to break down the unjust Israeli siege and deliver much needed humanitarian supplies. In August 2008 Paul Larudy and Greta Berlin along with their friends from California based Free Gaza Society started a campaign two year ago aimed at penetrating the illegal siege through legal means. The film documents the journey of the heroes who sailed across the sea in Freedom boats. (33 mins.) Screens with O CAMINHO (3 mins. Palestine)

Monday, November 16 @ 7:30 p.m.
GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL – PROGRAM 2

ARTHUR BALFOUR AND ME by Charlotte Cornic. What links Arthur J Balfour, the British Politician born in 1848 on a sumptuous family estate in East Lothian and Fatima, a young Palestinian woman, born in 1971 in a refugee camp in Lebanon and now seeking asylum in Glasgow? From the narrow alley ways of a refugee camp in Lebanon to the beautiful farming landscape of EastLothian in Scotland, ‘ Arthur Balfour and Me’ is a visual and emotional journey through history and the present, a personal story about how one politician’s actions continue to affect the life of a young woman from the Middle East. (11mins.)

25 KILOMETERS by Nahhed Awad. 25 Kilometers is a journey through the checkpoints and rocky roads of the West Bank. Starting in Ramallah, where the filmmaker lives and works, this short film documents her attempt to reach her family’s home in Beit Sahour (near Bethlehem). Inside the West Bank, Palestinians spend considerable time either being forced to avoid checkpoints or to wait in line. Over time these checkpoints have became a part of the daily routine of thousands. This routine in itself gives rise to some unexpected practices some people try to joke about the checkpoints, others feel powerless and even convince themselves that this is part of a “normal” life. Having had the privilege to leave Palestine from time to time, the filmmaker came to believe that one of the worst things that could happen to her is getting used to checkpoints, for this would signal giving up hope for a normal life and a future. (20mins.) THE EXODUS AND THE ODYSSEY by Bilal Shammout. "The Exodus and the Odyssey" is a journey through the eyes of a uniquely artistic Palestinian couple, Ismail and Tamam Shammout, depicting the Exodus and uprooting of Palestinians from their beloved homeland. Both Ismail and Tamam dedicated their lives to the Palestinian cause, and were also the founders of the Palestinian Artistic Movement. The documentary uses the couple's brushes and colours to vividly portray their experiences on 19 murals, to tell the world what they and their people have had to endure over the past 60 years. Recorded in their own voices, the film takes viewers on Ismail andTamam's personal voyage and immerses the audience in the spectacular sights and sounds of these world famous works of art. (45 mins.) Screens with AL ALMANIE (THE GERMAN) (3 mins. Palestine)

Tuesday, November 17 @ 7:30 p.m.
GAZA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL – PROGRAM 3

ONE OF by Emad Badwan. One Of reveals the shooting of an emergency medical worker on January 7th, during the period which Israel declared a ‘cease-fire’ period. The medics were subject to no less than 15 shots while they attempted to evacuate the body of a man already sniped by Israeli soldiers. One Of poses the question: how would you feel if your loved one died because ambulances were prevented from reaching the wounded. (4 mins.) SABRA AND SHATILA by Hesham Jordey. The 1982 Sabra and Shatila Massacre of Palestinian civilians by Christian militiamen in two Beirut refugee camps during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The goal of Israel's action was to expel Palestinian guerrillas from Lebanon. To achieve this objective, Israel allied itself with several Lebanese Christian groups, including thePhalange party, who fought the Palestinians during the protracted Lebanese Civil War (1975 – 90). Following the U.S.-brokered evacuation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters from Beirut, Israeli forces under Defense Minister Ariel Sharon allowedPhalange militiamen into the camps, ostensibly to root out further PLO fighters. Estimates of the number of women, children, and elderly who were killed over the next several days ranged from 800 to several thousand. Although no militiamen were ever prosecuted, Sharon — who an Israeli commission of inquiry later found indirectly responsible through negligence — was condemned in Arab popular opinion as the culprit of the massacre. (51mins.) FROM THE CAMP by Ahmed Al Mashharawi. If the bombs don’t kill them, the sea just might. The documentary film talks about Palestinian refugees in Gaza Strip living along the sea. The refugees survived the siege, but this time the power of nature is their enemy.Abu Ahmed had a part of his home destroyed by the sea Float and his poor family can hardly scrape by. They represent the miserable life of the refugees in their battered camp and the doubled suffering that the poor may have when they face the force of nature. It is a story of a sea and refugees. (15mins.) Screens with TO BIDDO (3 mins. Palestine)