Post-film discussion with filmmaker Amer Shomali on November 6!
Screening with short film Free Range.
In response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, a co-operative from the town of Beit Sahour decide to buy 18 cows and produce their own milk. Their venture is extremely successful, allowing the Palestinians to avoid buying Israeli milk, and the cows local celebrities. All is well until the Israeli army takes note and declares the farm an illegal security threat. Consequently, the dairy is forced underground and the cows continue to produce their "Intifada milk" with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit. Recreating the story of the "wanted 18" from the perspectives of the Beit Sahour activists, Israeli military officials, and even the cows, Palestinian artist Amer Shomali and veteran Canadian director Paul Cowan create an enchanting, inspirational tribute to the ingenuity and power of grassroots activism through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews.
Screenings will be followed by a discussion with director Amer Shomali.
“[T]he black-and-white claymation, reminiscent of “Wallace and Gromit,” is a joy, made more so by the surprise of seeing frolicsome animation in a docu about such a weighty subject.” - Variety
FILMMAKERS
Amer Shomali is a Palestinian artist and worked as multimedia designer at Birzeit University and ZAN Studio in Ramallah, Palestine. He uses art and technology to design posters, political cartoons and short animation to support local and international political campaigns and open local social debates. He now lives in England, pursuing his MA studies in animation at the arts institute at Bournemouth.
Paul Cowan: In his 25-year career as a filmmaker, Paul Cowan has never been one to shy away from controversy. He has chronicled the rise and fall of renegade billionaire Robert Campeau, followed Dr. Henry Morgentaler on his controversial abortion crusade, dramatized Donald Marshall’s landmark battle against Nova Scotia’s justice system, and stirred up a storm of debate in the Canadian Senate with a hotly-contested docudrama about First World War flying ace Billy Bishop. His strength is creative documentaries that combine documentary techniques with evocative images and recreations. Paul recently wrote and directed the feature documentary, Paris 1919.
Free Range
Director: Bass I. Bréche
2014 | Lebanon/Germany | Arabic/English | 16 min | Minnesota Premiere
Based on actual events, “Free Range” tells the story of a cow who crosses the border from Israel to Lebanon, where she meets 16-year-old Malakeh and her family. A Lebanese Spaghetti-Western of sorts, this short confronts the complex issue of borders and the power relations that exist between them.
FILMMAKER
Bassem Bréche was born in 1978, and started his career as a theatre actor in Lebanon before moving to the UK. In 2007, his short film “Both” was selected for the Cannes International Critics’ Week, then toured over 50 international film festivals. In 2008, Bréche won the Moulin d’Andé residency in France where he finished writing his first feature film, Splits, which was accepted at the Dubai Film Connection and Montpellier Film Festival in France. He worked on the Emmy Award-winning web-drama Shankaboot and as a scriptwriter on the award-winning web-series Fasateen. In 2014, Bréche won the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for his “Free Range.” Bréche is a lecturer at the Lebanese American University and Alba in Beirut and a well-known blogger in the Arab world.
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