DC PALESTINIAN FILM + ARTS FESTIVAL 2016
PALESTINE ACROSS THE DIASPORA: S TO R I E S O N H O M E + M I G R AT I O N
DCPFAF is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors and community partners.
welcome The DC Palestinian Film + Arts Festival (DCPFAF) returns for the sixth year, bringing 33 films, five talks, and one mind-blowing visual exhibit to the District. This year's festival, Palestine Across the Diaspora: Stories on Home + Migration, explores ideas of home across a diaspora as diverse as it is vast, connecting Palestinians in diaspora and at home with a virtual Portal utilizing audio-visual technology.
what is home? PAL E S T I N E AC R O S S T HE D I ASPO RA Portal to Diaspora
OCTOBER 6-8 | 8AM TO 6 : 30 PM DI S T R ICT ARCHITEC TU R E C E NTE R ( DAC ) | F R E E
This year’s DCPFAF features a four-day architectural exhibit at the District Architecture Center in Chinatown, a center operated by the DC chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The exhibition spotlights over a hundred years of Palestinian architecture, from historic to contemporary Palestine across the diaspora. Guests will explore the concept of home as an architectural, environmental, communal, and human experience vis-à -vis the Palestinian narrative. Over 9.6 million Palestinians worldwide claim heritage to the same place - the same homeland. Palestine is a place physically inaccessible to most Palestinians, yet it remains a communal identifier that unifies a fragmented population in spite of distance and physical barriers. Through photographic work, this exhibit also explores the many definitions of home by Palestinians - a people as varied as the diaspora is vast. Issues of migration, attachment to place, and place-making are relevant not only to the Palestinian people, but to all diaspora populations - including those communities right here in Washington, D.C.
OCTOBER 5 - 7 | 1:30PM TO 5 :30PM DAC | FREE, M ANAG ED T H ROU G H SH ARED ST U DIOS
In cooperation with Shared Studios, the exhibit centers on an interactive pop-up portal with audio-visual technology. Once inside, visitors have the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with members and friends of the Palestinian community in New York City and Milwaukee. Performances at the Portal OCTOBE R 5 -8 | 12 PM TO 1PM DAC | $ 1 0
Catch a collaborative performance between artists in Gaza and DC at the Portal. Take a break from your busy day and watch musicians, poets, painters, comedians, and other artists creatively exchange across land and water via audio-visual technology. Portal to Gaza OCTOBER 6 - 7 | 8AM TO 11:30AM
Featured architects and displays include: RIWAQ on cultural heritage and historical preservation; UNRWA on refugee and emergency response infrastructure; Senan Abdelqader on rebuilding and modernization; Decolonizing Art + Architecture Residency on experimental design as it pertains to the future of the Palestinian state; and ShamsArd Design Studio on environmentalism, landscape and vernacular architecture.
DAC | FREE, M ANAG ED T H ROU G H SH ARED ST U DIOS
In cooperation with Shared Studios, the exhibit centers on an interactive pop-up Portal with audio-visual technology. Once inside, visitors have the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with members of Palestinian community in Gaza, Palestine.
PERFORMANCES AT THE PORTAL OCTOBER 5-8 | 12 PM TO 1P M DAC | $10
P OR TA L TO GA Z A | 8 A M TO 11:30AM | FREE P OR TA L TO D I AS P OR A | 1:30PM TO 5 :30PM | FREE
OCTOBER 5 fatima al-ghoul is an artist in Gaza recently featured by Reuters News Agency for her unorthodox medium. Fatima uses henna on canvas to depict old Palestinian cities.
fuad nazmi is an art teacher, lecturer, painter, and host on al-Aqsa TV in Gaza, Palestine. Fuad has painted murals for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and currently works as a cartoonist at Juha Tun Co.
amin “drew” law is a nationally touring performance poet, writing facilitator and recording artist. Born in southern West Virginia to Palestinian and American parents, he is passionate about his multicultural roots. He has performed at over 100 colleges, read at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, and the Split This Rock festival. Amin is a 2015 DC poetry slam champion, three-time member of the DC Beltway Slam team, and fivetime member of DC’s Southern Fried slam team. Amin is an advocate for Palestinian issues, having performed and spoken at several Palestinian liberation events and protests. Amin co-founded the Poetry for Gaza annual fundraiser.
sol band, composed of eleven talented musicians, was formed in 2012 with just four members. Four years later, Sol Band has created a following at home in Gaza and abroad despite limited resources through publishing videos on social media. Sol Band has collaborated and performed with organizations such as Mercy Corps, Gaza Sky Geeks, the Qattan Foundation, International Committee for the Red Cross, and PalThink. Sol Band makes music as proof of their determination to send messages of home, love, hope, and peace.
OCTOBER 5
OPENING RECEPTION + KEYNOTE
DOOR S OPEN AT 6:30 PM DAC | F REE, RSVP RE QU I R E D
with iman fayyad + amar bakshi
Join the DCPFAF to celebrate the beginning of its sixth year showcasing the work of Palestinian artists and filmmakers to DC audiences. The 2016 DC Palestinian Festival + Arts Festival features 27 events, consisting of 33 films, five talks by artists and filmmakers, and a Portal linking festival goers to Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora, in cooperation with Shared_Studios. Palestinian architect Iman Fayyad and Amar Bakshi, creator of Shared Studios, will give remarks. Light refreshments will be served.
iman fayyad is an architect based in Cambridge, MA. She is currently the John Irving Teaching and Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), where she gives lectures and workshops on projective representation, and conducts research on historical and contemporary geometric techniques in architecture. She graduated from the GSD in May 2016 with a Master in Architecture with Distinction, where she was awarded the Faculty Design Award, the Araldo A. Cossutta Prize for Design Excellence, and the American Institute of Architects Certificate of Merit. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she served as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honors Society. While at MIT, Iman helped found the Palestine@MIT student group for raising cultural awareness about Palestine and the Middle East on campus. Iman’s academic and professional work has been published in academic journals and the annual student work publication at Harvard, Platform. She has also worked as a researcher and designer at several architecture firms in Boston and Paris. Interested in architecture as the nexus for the sciences and the humanities, her work focuses on descriptive and analytic geometry, and the role it plays in shaping our experience and cognitive perception of space.
amar bakshi is an artist and the creator of Shared_Studios, a multidisciplinary art collective that connects people across all forms of distance. In 2014, the studio launched Portals, which has connected over 25,000 participants through immersive audiovisual spaces around the world. Previously, Amar worked as a reporter at The Washington Post, an editor at CNN.com, and as Special Assistant to then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. Amar is a graduate of Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale Law School.
PERFORMANCES AT THE PORTAL OCTO BER 5-8 | 12 PM TO 1P M | DAC | $ 10
OCTOBER 6 be steadwell is a singer-songwriter from Washington DC. With roots in jazz, acapella and folk, Be composes a soulful blend of genres into what she calls queer pop. In her live performances, she utilizes loop pedal vocal layering and beat boxing to compose her songs on stage. Be’s self-produced albums feature her earnest lyricism, proud LGBTQ content, unapologetic silliness, and the art of the simple love song. As she pursued her career in music, she began a career in film, shooting and editing her own music videos. Be holds an MFA in film from Howard University. This year, Be was selected as a 2016 Strathmore Artist in Residence, as well as receiving an artist fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts. Be is currently touring her music and
abu joury is a Palestinian rapper who has been performing and writing rap songs since 2001. He is a member of PR (Palestinian Rapperz), the first rap band in the Gaza Strip. Abu Joury has performed and represented Palestine at various international concerts and festivals, including in FIMU, La Nuit Blance, and Fete De La Music in France, and concerts in Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco. However, due to the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the Gaza Strip, Abu Joury has been prevented from attending many concerts. Abu Joury has been featured in documentaries such as Slingshot Hiphop, Checkpoint Rock, and Enshallah. He has recently started work on his fourth album after receiving a grant from the Qattan Foundation.
PORTAL TO G AZ A | 8AM TO 11:30AM | FREE PORTAL TO DIASPORA | 1:30PM TO 5 :30PM | FREE
ghada shoman is a singer and pharmacy student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Palestine. 21 years old, she sings to touch hearts and create happiness. She considers art a non-compensatable source of passion and motivation for success. Ghada is also passionate about volunteer work.
ayman abu abdou is an oud player in Gaza, Palestine. He has played in and established - music festivals across the world, from Palestine to Oman to Norway, under the auspices of organizations ranging from UNICEF to the Qattan Foundation to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
fuad foty is an oud instrumentalist and vibrant vocalist with over thirty years of performance and musical instruction experience. Born in Ramallah, Palestine, an integral part of Fuad’s childhood involved learning the classical Arabic songs of the musicians and composers of the time. But it wasn’t until Fuad left Ramallah in 1974 and arrived in Houston, Texas that he reconnected with his memories of his homeland by teaching himself how to play the oud at age fifteen. His passion for the oud quickly evolved and he joined various Arab bands, and started playing music to inform the American public about Palestine and the Palestinian cause. Fuad performs around the country and teaches Arabic music to Arabs and non-Arabs alike. He also frequently lectures on topics involving Arabic music.
OCTOBER 6
speed sisters dc premiere
DOCU MENTARY | 80 MI N. | 20 15 | PA L E S TI NE /USA 7:30PM | E STREE T C I NE MA | $ 12 R E G U L A R / $ 1 0 S T UD E N T /S E N I OR
The Speed Sisters are the first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, Speed Sisters takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.
A BOUT T H E D I R E CTOR
amber fares is a Canadian-born filmmaker with Lebanese roots. In the aftermath of September 11, Fares left her career in marketing to deepen her understanding of life in the Middle East. In response to her experience, Fares co-founded SocDoc Studios to produce story-driven films that explore social issues. Her directorial debut short, “Ghetto Town” (2009), has been shown at film festivals around the world. “Speed Sisters” is her first feature-length documentary.
PERFORMANCES AT THE PORTAL
PORTAL TO G AZ A | 8AM TO 11:30AM | FREE PORTAL TO DIASPORA | 1:30PM TO 5 :30PM | FREE
OCTOBER 5-8 | 12 PM TO 1PM | DAC | $ 10
OCTOBER 7
featuring an appearance by the qattan women’s choir in gaza
nabil diab is a Palestinian stand-up comedian living in the Gaza Strip. He began doing stand-up comedy in May 2014, after years of experience working with international and local NGOs in a variety of capacities. Nabil also worked at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in youth programs, theater, cinema, and music, helping thousands of young girls and boys in Gaza develop their artistic skills.
wathec salman is a Syrian flamenco dancer who began dancing in 1999 in Damascus, Syria. His recent performances are uniquely known to combine traditional Spanish flamenco with Oriental music. The result is an original Spanish flavored dance, inspired by Middle Eastern traditional music. He has performed more than 60 original shows with his group in many Arab countries, including two shows held at the famous Damascus Opera House in the Syrian capital.
the sanctuaries is an art collective born in the neighborhoods of Washington, DC. In 2013, after months of conversations, Reverend Erik Martínez Resly brought more than twenty neighbors together to build a new type of community that they couldn’t find anywhere else. Their vision was clear: they wanted a community that was as diverse as the city they lived in, where creative and soulful people could come together in an authentic way to collaborate on artistic projects that promoted social change. They imagined filling the city with these safe and sacred spaces — these “sanctuaries.” That was the beginning. The Sanctuaries has grown a lot since then. But they remain committed to the bold and collaborative spirit of those early founders. al anqaa group for arts was created in 2005 in Gaza, Palestine by a group of amateur artists. Composed of 35 dancers, the group blends traditional and modern arts through blending folklore with modern dance. In 2013, Al Anqaa won first place in the “Torathiyat” competition in the Gaza Strip. In 2015, they opened an institution for teaching arts like dabke and folkloric dancing. The institution aims to preserve Palestinian culture by educating all generations about Palestinian folklore. Al Anqaa also aims to bridge cultures and represent Palestine through the arts.
OCTOBER 7
seamstress us premiere
+ q&a with donia jarrar
SHOR T | 36 MIN. | 2 016 | PA L E S TI NE / U SA | U S P R E M I E R E 5:3 0 PM | DAC | $10 RE G U L A R / $ 7 S TU D E NT/ S E N I OR
Seamstress is a documentary song-cycle based on the collected oral histories of Palestinian women and girls. Blending audio interviews, photography, and raw footage with live chamber orchestra and dance performances, Seamstress aims to create a moving and powerful portrait of love, strength, and resistance in the face of injustice and misinformation. Interviews were conducted with women and girls from different generations and social sectors in the West Bank, Israel, and Gaza from the summer of 2012 through the summer of 2015. The song texts are adapted from the interviews, weaving together their different voices, perspectives, and experiences in a way that challenges the current existing media stereotypes and portrayals of Palestinian culture and womanhood, specifically through a portrayal of universal themes within a larger global context.
love, theft + other entanglements dc premiere
FEAT U RE | 9 5 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE 9 PM | REG AL G ALLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 $12 REG U L AR / $10 ST U DENT /SENIOR
A Palestinian car thief gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money in his impoverished refugee camp turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk.
OCTOBER 7
SHARPER IMAGE: S HORT F ILMS | 76 MI N. | 7 PM | R E G A L G A L L E RY P L ACE
ave maria dc premiere B Y B ASIL KHALIL
SHOR T | 15 MIN. | 2 0 15 | PA L E S TI NE ( 20 15 ACA D E M Y AWA R D N OM I N E E )
The Nuns of the Sisters of Mercy convent in the middle of the West Bank wilderness have their daily routine of silence and prayer disrupted when a family of religious Israeli settlers crashes their car into the convent’s wall. The Sabbath is approaching and they need to get home urgently, however because of the religious laws, the Israelis can’t operate a phone to call for assistance, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence. Together they must come up with an unorthodox plan to help them get home.
solomon’s stone B Y R AMZI MAQDISI
SHOR T | 2 5 MIN. | 2 0 15 | PA L E S TI NE / S PA I N
Hussein, a young Palestinian man, receives a letter from the Israeli post office to appear in person to receive a package. He has to pay the sum of $20,000 in order to collect that package. Hussein’s curiosity to find out what the package contains drives him to sell everything he owns, despite the outright rejection of his mother, a matter that changes their lives afterwards. The story is adapted from the novel Blue Light by Hussein Barghouty.
OCCUPATION IN FOCUS S TA D I UM 1 4 | PRICE: $12 REG U L AR / $10 ST U DENT /SENIOR
in the land of oranges us premiere
BY NADIR M AU G E
SH ORT | 15 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE
Angele Hazboun (94), and her sister Odette (79), currently live in seclusion. They fled to the small town of Bethlehem, Palestine where they have lived their lives since being forced out of their hometown, Jaffa, decades ago. Now older and weary from their circumstances, these women address the camera to tell their story in an attempt to remind us of the past and reconnect with the life they once knew.
to my mother
us premiere
BY AH M AD AL- BAZ Z
SH ORT | 2 1 M IN. | 2 014 | PALEST INE
The film is a personal biography of the Palestinian university student Yaser Jodallah. It features the difficulties that he has encountered throughout his study due to the Israeli military occupation and the Palestinian internal political division, as well as the role of the mother and her absence from the Palestinian family.
PERFORMANCES AT THE PORTAL OCTO BER 5-8 | 12 PM TO 1P M | DAC | $ 10
OCTOBER 8 huda asfour is a performer, composer and engineer who has worked, studied, and collaborated with artists in Tunisia, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and the United States. Her debut release Mars: Back and Forth is a progressive experimentation and reinterpretation of familiar Arabic styles alongside a compelling push for the interstellar home, self, and futurism. Mars, Asfour writes, “was my search for home and for identity. A trip to a world without borders. Undefined by labels and boundaries. The god of war, that shaped my early years, from the mountains of Lebanon where I was born during the Israeli invasion, to the early years of the second intifada (uprising) in Ramallah.” Huda’s next release is expected in 2016. The new projects reflect Huda’s multi-faceted musical and life experiences. Its songs aim at reviving some of the musical legacies that have helped shape the personality and music repertoire and range from the folk songs of Iraq and Tunisia to original compositions exploring the theme of love.
leyya mona tawil is a conceptual artist working with dance and music practices. She is a Syrian-Palestinian-American, engaged in the world as such. Tawil is the director of DANCE ELIXIR and TAC: Temescal Art Center. Her work has been presented in Russia, Canada and 13 countries throughout Europe and the Arab world. Her approach to experimental performance is based on conceptual scoring and location-based variables. She has discussed this process with author Linda Weintraub for Movement Research’s Critical Correspondence as well as interviews printed in Wall Street Journal, American Theatre, Art Territories, NEA Art Talks and
also featuring trio qanoun + mohamed akela in gaza, palestine
OCTOBER 8
FILMING GAZA SHOR T F ILMS | 58 MI N. | 1P M | DAC | $ 10
gaza in context B Y N OU RA ERAKAT A ND D I A ’ A Z ZE H SHOR T | 2 0 MIN. | 2 0 16 | U SA
Israel does not have a Hamas problem. It does not have a Gaza problem. It has a Palestine problem. It has been two years since one of Israel’s most brutal attacks on the Palestinian people of Gaza in its history. Despite overwhelming evidence of the disparity of power between Israel and all Palestinians and the aggressiveness of Israel’s exercise of its power, including excessive and brutal violence and collective punishment in Gaza in the form of occupation, siege, and frequent military assaults against dense and captive civilian populations, mainstream media and educational materials continue to frame Israel as the victim. This pedagogical project aims to correct the propagandistic character of mainstream media and educational coverage. Gaza in Context provides historical context, explaining Palestinian resistance, for what has been an Israeli narrative that exceptionalizes Gaza and removes it from the larger Palestinian struggle. This is an opportunity to understand the violence and Israel’s settler-colonial project.
one minute B Y DI NA NASER
dc premiere
SHOR T | 11 MIN. | 2 015 | B E L G I U M & J O R DA N
One Minute during the summer of 2014 Gaza war: in the battered neighborhood of Shujaiya, a 37-year-old Salam takes shelter in her house to protect herself and her daughter Alia from the attacks outside, until she receives a message informing her of their impending fate. One Minute takes us through a journey between the moments when Salma receives funny text messages from a friend and when she receives an evacuation message from the Israeli Army. Powerless at the mercy of war tactics, all Salma and her baby have are those moments.
the black friday us premiere
BY J OZ EF NAT EEL
SH ORT | 2 7 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE
Israel conducted its largest-scale military operation against the entire Gaza Strip. It lasted 51 days, beginning on July 7 and ending on August 26, 2014. On Friday, August 1, the southern town of Rafah witnessed an atrocious massacre, which was later named by the news outlet Ha’aretz as “The Black Friday.” Haaretz released a report covering this day on August 7, 2014 where it mentioned that Israeli Occupying Forces implemented an emergency procedure known as “Hannibal.” Under this procedure, it’s imperative for the Israeli army to thwart the abduction of their soldier at any cost, even if the price was the life of the kidnapped soldier himself. According to this, the Israeli army bombarded Rafah using artillery and aircraft and it used bulldozers to indiscriminately demolish dozens of homes in the area especially in Eastern Rafah. In that day alone, there were more than 150 civilian casualties and hundreds of wounded, including men, women, and children, murdered under the rubble of their own homes as they attempted to flee, and hunted down by Israeli shells.
OCTOBER 8
FLEEING, COPING, SURVIVING: FILMS FROM SYRIA SHOR T F ILMS | 73 M I N. | 2: 30 P M | DAC | $ 10
blue BY A collection of short films by Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian filmmakers and artists that tell different stories about the impact of war and exile on the people of Syria, including narrative, documentary, and experimental shorts. Films produced by Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts and curated for a DC audience by the DC Palestinian Film + Arts Festival.
yaman BY
AMER AL B A R Z AWI
SHOR T | 4 MIN. | 2 016
Yaman is a young inventor. His greatest invention is an incredible machine which can turns tissues into incredible ones, an invention that helps him survive.
siege BY
ABDU LL AH A L - K H ATI B , D E A A YA HE A , M OAYA D Z AGH M OUT ,
B AR A A NMRAWI, JAMA L K H A L I F E , MO H A MMA D A L S UKA R I , WAS S I M M N WAR, ABDU L RAH MA N SA L E E M, O MA R A B D UL L A H , N AWA R A L YO USSEF | SHORT | 10 MI N. | 20 15
Siege is the outcome of a workshop via Skype with twelve young people under siege in Yarmouk Camp near Damascus since almost a year and a half. This film expresses four daily realities of this siege. While finalizing their films, the situation in Yarmouk got worse and it became difficult for them to meet together. They persevered and here are their intimate reflections.
funfair BY
NANDA AL DO L A NI
S HOR T | 13 MIN. | 2 014
The random shelling in Syria led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrian families inside Syria, but also to neighboring countries. Often, the families had to flee without the fathers, as they disappeared in prisons or died. As a result, many of the displaced children are now forced to work due to the former sole breadwinner. In Beirut, the Lebanese capital, tens of children daily roam the city’s streets as street vendors, selling flowers or chewing gum almost as if they are begging. These children are trying to help their families to survive in one of the most expensive countries of the Arab world.
A BO GA B I
S H OR T | 1 3 M I N . | 2 014
I have had a recurring dream since I fled the Yarmouk Refugee Camp and came to Beirut. The dream takes me back to besieged Yarmouk, where death and destruction have found a way to settle in all its details. I am not sure whether it is a dream or a nightmare. But I live in this open-ended waiting with images of that place and the difficulty of abandoning it. Maybe the sound of my friend Ayham’s piano changed the nightmare into dream and the place into a legend. Here, there is no geography, a place between two times, the first is a tent and the second is bags packed for other conquests. These conquests stimulate the hardness and bitterness of our catastrophes and previous disappointments. We pack our luggage to find only our memory that tells the stories of our relation with the wind. We, as witnesses of disappointment and hope.
a home on a rainbow BY
RAM I NIH AWI, LINA AL ABED AND NADIM
D E A I BE S | S H OR T | 15 M IN. | 2 015
Three years ago, the inhabitants of Al Marj refugee camp located in the Bekaa Valley, fled from different regions in Syria to find refuge in Lebanon. Instead of finding a safe haven, they were subjected to a sudden order of evacuation on the grounds of the tents being in proximity to a military zone. The authorities granted the refugees only five days to dismantle their laboriously built tents, without offering any alternative settlement option.
a day and a button BY
AZ Z A H AM WI
S H OR T | 7 M I N . | 2015
When you can no longer rebel, when your country turns into a big prison, you walk In the same place you used to rebel in, your memory walks you, because the place has changed, or the people were killed, imprisoned, shelled, displaced A city split in two, regime and liberated, and where is your place? Relax..you’re in Damascus!
OCTOBER 8
SPOTLIGHT ON GLOBAL MIGRATION WITH TOMAS AYUSO TAL K + SHORT F ILM S | 6 4 MI N. | 4 : 30 P M | DAC | $ 1 0
Forced displacement and subsequent migration are at a global all-time high. Images of families and individuals embarking on dangerous transnational crossings have come to define the 21st century global order. As a diaspora community, Palestinians have a plethora of experiences with multiple forms of migration from multiple places. Tomas Ayuso, a Honduran journalist and photographer of Palestinian descent, will discuss human movement around the world, its causes and consequences for various communities, and the process of documenting these stories..
non assistance us premiere
B Y CAROLINE ABU -SA DA A ND F R É D É R I C C H O F FAT DOCUMENTARY | 52 MI N. | 20 16 | S WI TZE R L A ND
Thousands of people fleeing on-going conflicts or in search of a better life are crossing the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in Europe. The old continent’s answer is either nonexistent or based on security. Against this state of nonassistance to people in danger, a handful of civilians in Europe are getting involved in many different ways to bring back some humanity into this unprecedented crisis.
dc premiere
xenos
B Y MA HD I F L E I FE L - DC P R E M I E R E S HO R T | 12 M I N . | 2 01 3 | GR E E CE
In 2010, Abu Eyad and other young Palestinian men from the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon travelled with smugglers through Syria and Turkey into Greece. Like so many other migrants, they came looking for a way into Europe but found themselves trapped in a country undergoing economic, political, and social collapse. Xenos is a short documentary blending footage shot on visits to Athens in 2011 with phone conversations recorded during Abu Eyad’s time there. It tells of his day-to-day struggle for survival and enduring sense of exile in a land of hope that has become a nightmare.
junction 48
dc premiere
FE AT UR E | 97 M I N. | 2 016 | ISRAEL/G ERM ANY/U SA 7 P M | R E GA L GA LLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 $ 1 2 R E GUL A R / $ 1 0 ST U DENT /SENIOR
Kareem leads an aimless life between odd jobs and hanging out with his buddies in a crime-ridden Arab ghetto of the mixed city of Lyd. A family tragedy brings him closer to his singer girlfriend, Manar, and motivates him to do something more with his life. When Kareem and his group finally get a chance to perform in a Tel Aviv hip-hop club, the star potential of the ‘first Arab rapper’ is quickly noticed. Although he raps “I’m not political,” Kareem and the group use music to express their tough life as Palestinian youth. But the road to success is never easy. Kareem and his group must face violent nationalistic Jewish rappers, government-imposed gentrification and troubled drug-dealing friends. When Manar’s family threatens to harm them if she performs publicly with him, the time comes for Kareem to either surrender to conservative tradition or stand up for the woman he loves, the artist he respects.
dégradé
FEAT U RE | 85 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE 9 :30PM | REG AL G ALLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 $12 REG U L AR / $10 ST U DENT /SENIOR
A hot summer’s day in the Gaza Strip. Today the electricity is on. Christine’s beauty salon is heaving with female clients: a bride-to-be, a pregnant woman, a bitter divorcée, a devout woman and a pill-popping addict. But their day of leisure is disrupted when gunfire breaks out across the street. A gangland family has stolen the lioness from Gaza’s only zoo, and Hamas has decided it’s time to settle old scores. Stuck in the salon, with the prospect of death drawing ever nearer, the women start to unravel. How will the day end? Will they lose their lives for the sake of “liberating the lioness?”
OCTOBER 9
us premiere
home sweet home DOCUMENTARY | 60 MI N. | 20 14 | F R A NC E
10 :3 0 AM | REGAL GA L L E RY P L AC E S TA D I U M 14
PLACED + DISPLACED: PALESTINIAN SHORTS SH ORT FILM S | 7 5 M IN.
$12 R EGU L AR / $10 S TU D E NT/ S E NI O R
The director returns to her native Lebanon due to the financial difficulties of her father, the principal of a progressive school in a south district of Beirut. The family home forms the venue for frequent lively and often humorous discussions. From these debates emerges the recent history of the country and the way political change has irreversibly transformed society.
letters from yarmouk us premiere
DOCUMENTARY | 58 MI N. | 20 14 | S YR I A 12PM | REGAL GALLE RY P L AC E S TA D I U M 14
1:30PM | REG AL G ALLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 $12 REG U L AR / $10 ST U DENT /SENIOR
goodnight, me BY
M ICH AEL KAM EL
S H OR T | 6 M I N . | 2016 | U SA | DC PREM IERE
Goodnight, Me is about Abigail, a teenage girl who is found crying in a bookstore by someone named Henry. Abigail’s mother recently passed away, and now she has trouble coping, turning to unusual and not-so-healthy ways to deal with the pain. Abigail recounts her memories to Henry... but are they really her memories?
the street artist BY
M AH M OU D H INDAWI
S H OR T | 7 M I N . | 2 014 | J ORDAN
The Street Artist is a short film depicting an ageing artist who despite his incredible talent, is disillusioned and in need of inspiration
$12 R EGU L AR / $10 S TU D E NT/ S E NI O R
pink bullet BY
Messages captured at Al Yarmouk refugee camp in moments of extreme complexity; messages siding with life in the face of death; moments of love in a time of war and questions of homeland and exile. Letters from Yarmouk presents stories that are still being told through still or moving images. Watched or heard, they are stories colored with hope for a better life. They are letters written by a life-like documentary film.
S H OR T | 1 1 M I N . | 2 014 | PALEST INE/NET H ERL ANDS
R A M Z I H AZ BOU N
Ali wakes up jumbled by the construction noise coming from outside, and the disturbing dream he just had. Little did he know that his day would be shuddery as the way it started, yet with little twists.
sunflower BY
JE N AN ISM AIL
S H OR T | 1 M I N . | 2 016 | UAE
Sunflower is a short experimental fashion film shot at a beach park, with a strong focus on composition and color.
remember us BY
DALIA ABU Z EID
DOCUM E N TA RY | 5 0 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE/J ORDAN | U S PREM IERE
Unveiling stories of a forgotten minority in Jordan: Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Citizens of nowhere, these refugees and later generations were never granted citizenship, depriving them from social, civic and human rights, with limited access to education, health, traveling and lifestyle. Witness the rare success stories of Gaza refugees in Jordan.
PALESTINIAN FUTURISM WITH M. ASLI DUKAN TA L K + S H O R T F I L MS | 4 5 M I N .
5 PM | R E G A L G A L L E RY P L ACE S TA D I UM 1 4 $ 12 R E G U L A R / $ 10 S TU D E N T /S E N I OR
Artist and filmmaker Larissa Sansour has created a body of speculative fiction works that propose what a future might look like in which Palestinians continue to survive. Her work fits into a greater body of science fiction by People of Color, including AfroFuturism, Asian Futurism, and Latin American Futurism. These future narratives imagine the survival of People of Color in spite of the tools of destruction and massive systems of oppression that exist in the present. In our discussion with filmmaker M. Asli Dukan, we explore works of science and speculative fiction by people of color, and assess Larissa Sansour’s science fiction works within the field of speculative fiction by Black and Brown people, and by Palestinians historically.
in the future they ate from the finest porcelain BY
L A R I S SA SA N S OUR
SHOR T | 30 MIN. | 2 015 | PA L E S TI NE
This film resides in the cross-section between sci-fi, archaeology and politics. Combining live motion and CGI, the film explores the role of myth for history, fact and national identity. A narrative resistance group makes underground deposits of elaborate porcelain – suggested to belong to an entirely fictional civilization. Their aim is to influence history and support future claims to their vanishing lands.
a space exodus BY
L A R I S SA SA NS O U R
SHOR T | 6 MIN. | 2 00 9 | PA L E S TI NE
This film quirkily sets up an adapted stretch of Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey in a Middle Eastern political context. The recognisable music scores of the 1968 science fiction film are changed to arabesque chords matching the surreal visuals of Sansour’s film.
nation estate BY
L AR I S SA SA NS O U R
SHOR T | 9 MIN. | 2 012 | PA L E S TI NE
This film is a 9-minute sci-fi short offering a clinically dystopian, yet humorous approach to the deadlock in the Middle East. The film explores a vertical solution to Palestinian statehood: One colossal skyscraper housing the entire Palestinian population, now finally living the high life.
OCTOBER 9
a conversation with mai masri 3 P M | R E GA L GA LLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 FR E E , R S V P R E Q UIRED
Award-winning Palestinian director Mai Masri has historically delivered moving and innovative documentary films from the heart of Palestinian communities. This year she surprised and awed audiences around the world with her first narrative feature film, 3000 Nights. In this conversation with Mai Masri, we will be watching select clips from some of her documentaries and discussing her body of work, the transition from documentary to narrative filmmaking, and more.
3000 nights + q&a with mai masri
FEAT U RE | 100 M IN. | 2 015 | PALEST INE 7 PM | REG AL G ALLERY PL ACE STADIU M 14 $12 REG U L AR / $10 ST U DENT /SENIOR
Layal, a young newlywed Palestinian school teacher, is arrested on false allegations and sentenced to eight years of prison. She is transferred to a high security Israeli women’s prison, where she encounters a terrifying world in which Palestinian political prisoners are incarcerated with Israeli criminal inmates. When she discovers she is pregnant, the prison director pressures her to abort the baby and spy on the Palestinian inmates. However, resilient and while still in chains, she gives birth to a baby boy. Through her struggle to raise her son behind bars and her relationships with the other prisoners, she manages to find a sense of hope and a meaning to her life. Prison conditions deteriorate and the Palestinian prisoners decide to strike. The prison director warns her against joining the rebellion and threatens to take her son away. In a moment of truth, Layal is forced to make a choice that will forever change her life.
acknowledgements
thanks
As we explore Palestinian film, art, and architecture at the sixth annual festival, we recognize the tireless dedication and work of everyone who made the 2016 DC Palestinian Film + Arts Festival a reality.
Our deepest gratitude to the sponsors, community partners, and generous individuals who made the 2016 DC Palestinian Film + Arts Festival possible.
A huge thank you to our volunteers who always go above and beyond. Our sincere gratitude to Mira Bakri in Palestine, Elaine Asal, Sana Abed Kotob, and board members Jenine Kotob and Huda Asfour for the long hours and love they put into the What Is Home? architecture exhibit, Portal, and building connections between artists in DC and Palestine. We also deeply appreciate everyone who contributed moments of their lives to the photographic portion of What Is Home?
A N DY S H A L L A L
It is the passion, creativity, and heart of our board, committee members, and volunteers that make this festival a labor of love that shines. Our deepest love and gratitude to our Managing Director Huda Asfour. Board and committee members Yumn Abduljawad, Anoud Allouzi, Sara El-Choufi, Tamara Essayyad, Lena Ghannam, Nusayba Hammad, Angelina Jarrouj, Michael Kamel, Nehad Khader, Jenine Kotob, Laila Mokhiber, Alaa’ Odeh, Siona Peterous, Sabrin Qadi, Nadia Shebaro, and Deema Zein poured their life, soul, and time into making dreams of the 2016 festival a reality.
R E GA L CI N E M AS
The DCPFAF does not exist without the community of artists, filmmakers, activists, community organizers, and attendees who inspire what we do, support us financially, emotionally, and artistically, and come out to the festival every year. To the filmmakers, artists, and panelists who share their profound and creative work; to our audience who encourages us to do it again year after year; and to our Palestinian people, who, wherever they may be, demonstrate an unwavering resilience in the face of injustice and oppression - thank you.
Q UI N N E VA N S A R CH IT ECT S
CA R R OL L L ON G E L I AS A BUR D E N E E YA D A BE D TAY E B DA JA N I I N S T I T UT E FOR PALEST INE ST U DIES I N S T I T UT E FOR P OLICY ST U DIES JE W I S H VOI CE S FOR PEACE PA L E S T I N E CH I L D REN’S RELIEF FU ND - DC M . DAOUD M OJA D DIDI N A BI L M UFT I D R . N A BI L QA D D U M I SA M A R A N D W I L L IAM L ANG H ORNE US CA M PA I GN TO END T H E ISRAELI OCCU PAT ION A A A E A - T R I S TAT E A L L R E M OD E L I N G & CONST RU CT ION M OH AW K GR OUP T H E N A K BA M US E U M PROJ ECT OP E N A R CH I T E CT URE DC R I WAQ S PA R TA N S UR FACES W I SA S OL UT I ON S COM M UN I T Y PA R T NERS
We are tremendously thankful to have an array of great community partners working with us. Without the community behind us, we could not celebrate the tremendous success we’ve had over the past 6 years. These partnerships have been vital to the growth of our festival and keep our audiences diverse. For a list of this year’s community partners, please visit dcpfaf.org/communitypartners.