Palestine Cinema Weekend
FRIDAY 19 JULY 2024
Picket with the KZN Palestine Solidarity forum
TIME: 16:00 - 17:00
Venue: NORTH BEACH AMPHITHEATER
#freetheworldfromzionism #fridaysforpalestine
Scenes of the Occupation from Gaza (1973)
TIME: 17h30
VENUE: North Beach Elangeni
A film by Mustafa Abu Ali, 13 min
A rare film by the legendary filmmaker Mustafa Abu Ali, one of the founders of the Palestine Film Unit, the first filmic arm of the Palestinian revolution. Shot by a French news team, the footage was edited by Mustafa in Lebanon to produce one of the earliest films on the occupied territory in Gaza. Scenes of the Occupation from Gaza employs experimental editing tech- niques to produce a cinematically and politically subversive film. The film won the prize as best film at the Damascus Film Festival in 1973 and was screened at multiple festivals. It was the only film produced by the Palestine Cinema Group, which in 1974 became the Palestine Cinema Institute.
Shujayya (2016)
A film by Mohamed AL Moughanni, 20m
In Gaza, members of a typical family are thrown into disarray after a series of bombing attacks destroyed their home, killed some of the occupants and left others seriously injured.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Ms Bandile Mdlalose - International Social Justice Activist who stayed in Palestine for 3 months on the EAPPI Programme under the World Council of Churches and played a role to observe and witness the challenging lives the Palestinians live under the occupation of Israel.
Saturday 20 July 2024
The Mandela Community Youth Centre in Chatsworth hosts a screening and a discussion with the Director Mohamed Jabaly
Ambulance (2016)
TIME:17h30
Venue: Nelson Mandela Community Youth Centre in Chatsworth
A film by Mohamed Jabaly, 80 min
A raw, first-person account of the last war in Gaza in the summer of 2014. Mohamed Jabaly, a young man from Gaza City, joins an ambulance crew as war approaches, looking for his place in a country under siege, where at times there seems to be no foreseeable future. While thousands of things are published on the recurring violence in Gaza, the stories behind them remain hidden. Not this one.
Discussion after with the filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly, a Palestinian filmmaker and artist from Gaza City. He won several Awards for his work, including Best Directing at IDFA for his latest film "Life is Beautiful – Al Haya Helwa", the Grand Prix Award at FIFDH, the International Competition Jury Award for Best Film at One World Festival and the Audience Award at Docville Belgium. His previous award-winning documentary, "Ambulance", has been shown at some of the world's largest film festivals and has been broadcast globally.
Sunday 21 July 2024
2 Film Screenings and Engagement with Director Marwah Jbara Tibi
Hosted by 2 Suns Shamsaan and the KwaZulu Natal Society of Arts
Bread and Butter (2021)
TIME: 11h00
Venue: KwaZulu Natal Society of Arts - 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood
A Film by Marwah Jbara-Tibi 54 minutes
The film captures the Palestinian workers commuting from their homes to workplaces in Israel. For work permit holders, the day starts with long hours of waiting in line, humiliating body searches with sniffer dogs, and the risk of suffocation at densely crowded checkpoints. Workers unable to obtain work permits, in contrast, must sneak into Israel with the help of smugglers - a dangerous gamble to earn a living. We accompany workers on their respective routes and capture hair-raising risks, random stops, daily threats, and the looming spectre of Covid with no guarantee of getting home again or of receiving proper medication. The film also highlights the leadership and courage of Palestinian women attempting to compensate for a husband’s long absence from home: The challenges of pursuing alternative sources of income and keeping vigil over the roads while the men sneak out to reach their jobs.
Gaza’s First Photographer (2024)
TIME: 12h00
Venue: KwaZulu Natal Society of Arts - 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood
A film by Marwa Jbara Tibi, 30 minutes
Gaza’s First Photographer - Kegham tells the story of Kegham Djeghalian, an Armenian who moved from Jerusalem to Gaza in 1945 and opened a studio called Kegham Studio. In the film, we meet his archive keeper, family, students, and people who knew him. We explore the city for the first time not through the eyes of the English occupation, but through Kegham's lens, seeing how he succeeded in making photography a popular trend for all people.
Discussion after screening with the filmmaker Marwa Jbara-Tibi, a Palestinian filmmaker with 12 years in documentaries, spent 25 years in journalism, including at CNN. Her films like Bread and Butter and The Bride Dress earned accolades at global festivals.