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Newsletter October 2019

1. WAJIB by Annemarie Jacir carrying on in German cinemas
2. ERASED,___ASCENT OF THE INVISIBLE worldwide
3. COUNTING TILES wins in Argentina and shows in Manchester
4. MAKE A WISH at the Palestine Cinema Days
5. AND AN IMAGE WAS BORN in Qatar
6. events
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1. WAJIB by Annemarie Jacir carrying on in German cinemas

Annmarie Jacir's multi-award winning film carries on in German cinemas. In October it shows

till 2.10.2019         Berlin (Brotfabrik)
till 8.10.2019         Berlin (Wolf)
2.10.2019              Seefeld (Breitwand)
3.+6.10.2019        Nuernberg (International Human Rights Film Festival)
6.+9.10.2019        Gauting (Breitwand)
10.-23.10.2019     Nuernberg (Filmhaus)
from 24.10.2019  Oldenburg (cine k)
from 31.10.2019  Bad Urach (forum 22)

all updated screening dates here

Content
Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a school teacher in his mid-60s living in Nazareth. After his daughter’s wedding in one month he will be living alone. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father in hand delivering the wedding invitations as per local Palestinian custom. As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives.
fiction, Annemarie Jacir, Palestine/France/Germany/Colombia/Norway/Qatar/UAE 2017, 96 min, DCP, Arabic with German ST
more
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2. ERASED,___ASCENT OF THE INVISIBLE worldwide

In October Ghassan Halwani's film is showing at the Bogota International Film Festival (Colombia), San Fransico Arab Film Festival (USA), the Cinema Days in Palestine, the Nuernberg International Human Rights Film Festival (Germany), Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (Japan), PerSo - Perugia Social Film Festival (Italy) and the Arab Film Festival Malmo (Sweden). Furthermore it is part of the exhibition Beirut Lab: 1975(2020) at the University Art Galleries of the University of California in Irvine (USA).

Content
Thirty-five years ago, I witnessed the kidnapping of a man I know.
He has disappeared since.
Ten years ago, I caught a glimpse of his face while walking in the street, but I wasn’t sure it was him.
Parts of his face were torn off, but his features had remained unchanged since the incident. Yet something was different, as if he wasn’t the same man.
essay-documentary, Lebanon 2018, color and black & white, 76 min, Arabic and English with English subtitles
more about the film
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3. COUNTING TILES wins in Argentina and shows in Manchester

Cynthia Choucair personal and highly political feature documentary wins the UNHCR AWARD as Best Feature Film on Refugee Theme at CineMigrante in Argentina. In October the film shows at the 'New Women's Voices in Lebanese Cinema' program in Manchester (UK).

Content
A group of clowns travel to the Greek island of Lesvos on a mission to bring laughter to the waves of refugees crossing the sea to escape from war and enter Europe. Unwittingly, the clowns find themselves greeted with closed gates witnessing the effects of new policies enacted by the European Union towards the refugees.
Cynthia, the sister of one of the clowns, joins them on their journey which slowly becomes a reflection on the sisters’ own tale of displacement during the Lebanese civil war.
documentary, Cynthia Choucair, Lebanon 2018, 87 min, Arabic with Engl. ST
more
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4. MAKE A WISH at the Palestine Cinema Days

Cherien Dabis (Amreeka, May in the Summer) short film shows, in the presence of the director, in the children's program of the Palestine Cinema Days in different cities in Palestie. The festival is taking place in different Palestinian cities, among them Bethlehem, Gaza, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah.

Content
A young Palestinian girl will do whatever it takes to buy a birthday cake. Eleven year-old MARIAM begs her mother for the extra money she needs to buy a cake at the local bakery. Her mother begrudgingly relents, but when Mariam arrives at the bakery, she realizes that she still doesn't have enough. Determined to get the cake, she sets out to brave the obstacles and land some cash. What begins as a simple trip to the bakery turns into a journey that depicts not only the subtle tensions of a politically charged environment, but also illustrates the grief that can result from growing up under occupation.
short film, Cherien Dabis, Palestine 2006, 12 min, colour, 35mm or digital, Arabic with Engl. ST
more
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5. AND AN IMAGE WAS BORN in Qatar

Firas Khoury's film is invited to the Elia Short Film Festival in East-Jerusalem in September.

Content
Palestinian two years old Razi loves to hear the story of The Monster. The story is an allegory of the Palestinian problem but he is too young to comprehend the political association, he just wants to imagine and live through its details over and over again. The narrator has his own film in his head.
short film, Firas Khoury, Palestine 2017, 9 min, Arabic with English or French ST
more about the film
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6. events

Irit Neidhardt (mec film) is member of jury for the the Documentary Development Fund at the Market Forum of Malmo Arab Film Festival (Sweden) and is later this month conducting several Q&As at the DOKUARTS Festival in Berlin (Germany).