Fall 2014 Visual Culture Series, Gaza Film Festival

UPDATE: This screening series has been relocated to the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center Auditorium (1st Floor) at 53 Washington Square South.

Presented by the NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies

Free and open to the public. RSVP to kevorkian.center@nyu.edu.

Co-sponsored by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.

Friday, September 5, 5PM

Tears of Gaza
(2010, 81 mins) Disturbing, powerful, and emotionally devastating, Tears of Gaza is less a conventional documentary than a record–presented with minimal gloss–of the 2008 to 2009 bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military. Photographed by several Palestinian cameramen both during and after the offensive, this powerful film by director Vibeke Løkkeberg focuses on the impact of the attacks on the civilian population.

Friday, September 5, 6:30PM

Flying Paper
(2013, 71 mins) Directed by Nitin Sawhney and Roger Hill, Flying Paper is the uplifting story of Palestinian children in Gaza. The film follows Musa, a charismatic teenaged kite-maker in the village of Seifa, and Abeer, an aspiring young journalist in the Jabalya refugee camp. They join a remarkable quest, along with thousands of other children, to shatter the Guinness World Record for the most kites ever flown.

Saturday, September 6, 1PM

Strawberry Fields
(2006, 60 mins) Director Ayelet Heller focuses on the economic aspect of the Israeli occupation. This film portrays the challenges and crises faced by Palestinian strawberry farmers at Beit Lahiya in Gaza and demonstrates the loss suffered by Palestinian farmers due to the border closure resulting from the Israeli-Hamas conflict of May 2005-April 2006.

Saturday, September 6, 3PM

Gaza: Another Kind of Tears
(2006, 55 mins) Director Abdel Salam Shehada tells the story of Abu Maher who lives with part of his family in the enclave area of the Al-Mawasi inside a Jewish settlement block. Hussein and Maher, his two sons live in Khan-Younes, 3 Km away, but a wall has separated them for the last 4 years. The film covers the events in Gaza and Al Mawasi area before, during, and after the Israeli disengagement from Gaza through the story of one family.

Saturday, September 6, 5PM

Where Should the Birds Fly
(2012, 58 mins) Directed by Fida Qishta, Where Should The Birds Fly is the first film about Gaza made by Palestinians living the reality of Israel’s siege and blockade. This is the story of two young women, survivors of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead. Mona Samouni, now 12 years old and the filmmaker, Fida Qishta, now 27, represent the spirit and future of Palestinians. Few films document so powerfully and personally the impact of modern warfare and sanctions on a civilian population.

Printable Film Festival Schedule