This segment remembers the massacres at Sabra and Shatila in 1982, which claimed the lives of many Palestinians. It also marks 50 years since the devastating Arab-Israeli war in 1967. Please join us after the film screenings for stories from local Palestinians living in diaspora, as they share their memories of home, loss, history, and life.
Films Screening Include:
Gaza: A Gaping Wound
Dir. Anne Paq and Ala Qandil
2016 | Palestine and Poland | Arabic with English subtitles | 14 min | Minnesota Premiere
SYNOPSIS: In 2014, an Israeli military offensive in Gaza persisted for 51 days, claiming the lives of 2,200, injuring 11,000 more, and leaving 100,000 homeless. The war, so closely watched by the media, was measured and counted, but the statistics cannot reflect the loss of a loved one, the bombing of a family home, or the trauma that comes after the ceasefire. Part of a multimedia project that can be explored at obliteratedfamilies.com, Gaza: A Gaping Wound tells the stories of the survivors.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: Anne Paq is an award-winning freelance photographer and videographer with a background in international human rights law. She lived in Palestine for more than a decade. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and published in various media outlets such as the Al Jazeera, Haaretz, The Huffington Post, and Electronic Intifadap.
Ala Qandil is a Polish-Palestinian journalist who covers stories from Palestine and is a former correspondent of the Polish Press Agency. She produced and co-directed a short documentary about food resistance in Palestine called Resistance Recipes (2013). Qandil is also a co-founder of Reporters' Collective, an initiative of Polish writers based in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Dir. Vikram Ahluwalia
2017 | Syria / UK / Germany | Arabic with English subtitles | 14 min | Minnesota Premiere
SYNOPSIS:This short documentary tells the story of Aeham Ahmad’s migration from Syria. A classically-trained musician, Ahmad rose to international prominence in 2014 after being filmed singing songs of peace amid the rubble of his beloved hometown of Yarmouk—a besieged Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: Vikram Ahluwalia is an activist and creative consultant, producing events and campaigns in support of humanitarian causes. He has curated major projects for Amnesty International, The Guardian, International Alert, and a range of grassroots organizations.
The Dream (al-manam)
Dir. Mohamad Malas
1987 | Syria | Arabic with English subtitles | 45 min
SYNOPSIS: Recently digitized, Syrian director Mohamed Malas’ The Dream (al-Manam) celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The film is composed of interviews with Palestinian refugees from the camps of Sabra, Shatila, Bourj el-Barajneh, Ain al-Hilweh, and Rashidieh in Lebanon. Asked to describe their dreams at night, each person tells their story of Palestine.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: Mohamad Malas, considered among the Syrian auteur directors, has directed numerous documentary and narrative films, including Dreams of the City (1983), Passions (2005), and Ladder of Damascus (2013), which screened at the 2014 Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.
Sponsors
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FEST
Mizna's twelfth Twin Cities Arab Film Fest offers an eclectic program of compelling and provacative contemporary narrative, documentary, and short films made by Arab filmmakers from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia, and more.
Browse Arab Film Fest