A Palestinian short film program will be screened at Filmens hus Tuesday at 7 pm. The short films are a promotion of Oslo Palestine Film Festival taking place at Filmens hus in 2012. Click here to read an interview with one of the founders of the festival, Jumana, Manna.
– Why have you chosen these short movies to screen during Films From the South? Can you say something about what are special about the movies and the film makers, and do they have anything in common?
– There has never been a Palestinian Film Festival before in Oslo. Therefore we are excited that Films From the SOuth generously offered us the evening tomorrow at 7 pm to promote the Oslo Palestine Film Festival that will take place next year. The two hours of short films we are presenting are a varied group of movies that we feel give a window into the variety of cinematic production relating to Palestine. The Lumiere brother's Leaving Jerusalem by Railway (1897) marks the beginning of depiction of Palestine in moving images. Homage by Assasination is the renown Elia Suleiman's most experimental film from the early 90s, chronicling his claustrophobic reality in New York during the Persian Gulf war. Abu Asad's A Boy, a Wall and a Donkey, is a hilarious three minute film about kids trying to make a movie with surveillance cameras in their village.
– How is the environment for producing film in Palestine? Is there a lot of film being produced, and was it hard to choose movies for the festival?
– In recent years there has been quite a boom of film production in Palestine. There are many films being made, mostly in the West Bank, by both foreign and local filmmakers.
– Why should people come to the short film program during Films From the South, and to Palestine Film Festival next year?
– First of all because we will be showing great films that we believe the public will enjoy. As a national cinema with no state I think cinema lovers will enjoy the paradoxes and questions that this cinema will present. It is in its nature very experimental, fragmented and even international. It will show people a different kind of Palestine than the silent victims we are used on TV and in the media.
– Why is Oslo Palestine Film Festival important? Why is it important to have such a festival in Oslo?
– We are tired of the depiction of Palestine with tears and sorrow in the media, and want to showcase the the art of Palestinian cinema, that has a sense of humor and richness of different genres. This festival goes beyond the purpose of solidarity of the Palestinian cause and will showcase films of different genres related to Palestine made by filmmakers of all nationalities and will focus on films that have not been shown in Norway before.
– What do you define as palestinian film?
– I believe Palestinian film is that which is made by Palestinian filmmakers, which do or do not address the Palestinian, or by non-Palestinians, be them French or Israeli, who are addressing Palestinian issues.
– Does film play a part in making a palestinian identity?
– Absolutely. In this case, the building of a Palestinian identity has been similar to many other national identities. Especially when speaking of cultures which found themselves occupied by a colonial power- creating a national culture that reflected the revolutionary struggle was a key gaining liberation from colonialism. In the case of Palestine, the first Palestinian film activities began with the establishment of the Palestinian Film Unit, that was annexed to Fatah, a fraction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the late 60s. At the time it was documenting Palestinian life in the refugee camps and activities of the Palestinian resistance. Today we have come quite far from that moment. Palestinian film today is as diverse and fragmented as the Palestinian people themselves.
– Is there exchange of film between Palestine and Israel? Is, for example, Israeli film being watched on the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, and the other way round?
– As far as i know, the last movie theater in Gaza closed in 1987 when the First Intifada broke out. Surely, Gazans are watching movies through DVDs and the web. I believe that in both cases, Israel and Palestine, each side is aware of the cultural production of the other, but I would say it is followed amongst a limited, cultural-leftist audience, on both sides.
– In recent years in Palestine, there has been the boycott campaign waged against Israeli culture and academia, in order to put pressure on cultural workers in Israel to play an active role in fighting the occupation and the terror that their government wages on the Palestinians.
Therefore it is extremely rare to have Israeli films screened the West Bank. In those rare cases which Israeli film is screened, it is filmmakers who are clearly anti-occupation and are doing films to promote awareness for the Palestinian cause inside and outside Israel such as Avi Moghrabi. In Israel, it is also very few Palestinian filmmakers who reach an Israeli audience. To my knowledge it is mainly the two most prominent Palestinian directors, Elia Suleiman and Hani Abu Asad's films who do.
– Who are the founders of Oslo Palestine Film Festival? Why did you want to make such a festival?
– The founders are a group of Palestinian artists, filmmakers and writers based in Oslo, and we could not have done this without the support of Trap, Palestinakomiteen and Films From the South. We believe there is a strong pro-palestinian vibe in Oslo, however, there are few events which reach a wider audience than the narrow audience of Palestine activists. None of us involved see ourselves as victims. We believe there is excellent art and cinema coming out of Palestine, that should be seen outside the context of activism, rather within one which celebrates the medium of film and leaves good memories and images on Palestine. That is what we are are showcasing the films, with pleasure.
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