FEATURE FILMS
Available from Video Difference
6086 Quinpool Road, Halifax
Amreeka (2009)
Director: Cherien Dabis
Muna, a single mother in Ramallah, has applied for a visa to the US. When it comes, her son Fadi, an excellent student, convinces her they should go. After an incident at customs begins their exile badly, they join Muna's sister and family in Illinois.
Circus Palestina (1998)
Director: Eyal Halfon
This comedy-drama is about a Russian circus that disrupts a volatile community of irate Palestinians, high-strung Israeli settlers, and shifty hucksters on either side. At first, everyone wants to check out this new diversion; they become less enthusiastic when the troupe's aging lion escapes. Suddenly, this already tense neighborhood is thrown into a tizzy. Circus Palestina swept the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards.
Divine Intervention (2002)
Director: Elia Suleiman
Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem.
For My Father (2008)
Director: Dror Zahavi
The story takes place during one weekend in Tel-Aviv, in three main spots that lead to Carmel Market. There are three protagonists: 1. Tarek, a Palestinian youth from Nablus; 2. Katz, an embittered old fellow; 3. Keren, a 17-year-old girl, who grew up in a strictly religious family and left her home to become a secular youngster. The three "heroes" are loners, driven by their past and by their inner conviction.
Jaffa (2009)
Director: Keren Yedaya
In the heart of Jaffa, Reuven's garage is a family business. His daughter Mali and his son Meir, as well as Toufik, a young Palestinian, work there. No one suspects that Mali and Toufik have been in love for years. As the two lovers are secretly making their wedding arrangements, tension builds between Meir and Toufik.
Laila’s Birthday (2008)
Director: Rashid Masharawi
Abu Laila used to be a judge. But, because the government doesn't have the means to renew his assignment, he is forced to be a taxi driver. On the day his daughter Laila becomes seven years old his wife insists that he be at home early and bring her a present and a cake. Abu Laila's has nothing else on his mind than completing this mission. But the daily life in Palestine has other plans.
Lemon Tree (2008)
Director: Eran Riklis
The story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemon-tree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.
Salt of this Sea (2008)
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Direct, stubborn, and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine.
Syrian Bride (2004)
Director: Eran Riklis
In Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met each other because of the occupation of the area by Israel since 1967; when Mona moves to Syria, she will lose her undefined nationality and will never be allowed to return home. When the family gathers for Mona's wedding, an insane bureaucracy jeopardizes the ceremony.
Time that Remains (2009)
Director: Elia Suleiman
In four episodes, Suleiman recounts family stories inspired by his father’s private diaries starting from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948, and his mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country during the same period. In addition, Suleiman also combines his own memories in an attempt to provide a portrait of the daily life of the Palestinians who were labeled "Israeli-Arabs" after they chose to remain in their country and become a minority.
DOCUMENTARY
Available from NSPIRG Library
Dalhousie Student Union Building, room 314
Occupation 101 (2006)
Directors: Abdallah Omeish and Sufyan Omeish
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
Palestine for Beginners (2004)
Directors: Linda Bevis and Edward Mast
A tutorial based on live presentations but refilmed with added visuals for DVD. A fast moving guide to the roots of the conflict, with key historical and current events, the characters, issues and motivations behind the ongoing crisis.
Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land (2004)
Directors: Sut Jhally and Bathsheba Ratzkoff
provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites -- oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others -- work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.
Available from Video Difference
Budrus (2009)
Director: Julia Bacha
Follows a Palestinian leader who unites Fatah, Hamas and Israelis in an unarmed movement to save his village from destruction. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter jumps into the fray.
TELEVISION
Available from Video Difference
Arab Labour
Created by Sayed Kashua, an Israeli-born Palestinian journalist, Arab Labor (translated from the Hebrew “Avoda Aravit”, which colloquially implies “shoddy or second-rate work”) focuses on Amjad Alian, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen in search of his identity. Poking fun at the cultural divide, Kashua and his characters play on religious, cultural and political differences to daringly depict the mixed society that is Israel. This show marked a milestone on Israeli television as the first program to present Palestinian characters speaking Arabic on primetime, and it generated great controversy between Arab and Israeli media.
