Chicago Palestine Film Festival
- 11th Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival
From April 20 through May 3, the Gene Siskel Film Center collaborates with the Chicago Palestine Film Festival to present the eleventh annual festival representing the spirit and mood of contemporary Palestinian life. This festival is dedicated to exhibiting film and video work that is open, critical, and reflective of the culture, experience, and vision of the artists.
This year's festival is made possible in part through the support of the Crossroads Fund, the Illinois Arts Council, a State Agency, and individual contributions. For their invaluable cooperation, the Gene Siskel Film Center thanks the members of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival Committee.
— Barbara Scharres
MAN WITHOUT A CELL PHONE
- Opening Night Film
Showtimes
Tickets
- MAN WITHOUT A CELL PHONE
- (aka BIDOUN MOBILE)
- (ISH LELO SELOLARI)
- 2011, Sameh Zoabi, Belgium/Israel/France/Palestine, 77 min.
- With Razi Shawadeh, Bassem Loulou
“A few laugh-out-loud moments whose comic elements don’t devalue the seriousness of the situation.”
—Jay Weissberg, Variety
“Irrefutably pleasant…the comedy truly snaps.”
—Chris Cabin, Slant Magazine
A comedy around the pitfalls of courting via cell phone veers into political territory after fulltime slacker and would-be lady’s man Jawdat runs afoul of Israeli authorities while chatting up potential dates on the Left Bank. For a guy who has repeatedly flunked his college entrance exam, the generation gap exists in the space between the edge of his crusty dad’s olive grove and the nearby cell phone tower the old man detests with a passion. It turns out that Dad isn’t so wrong, and the whole village is empowered by a dawning awareness. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.
Preceded by:
NO WAY THROUGH
2009, Alexandra Monro and Sheila Menon, UK, 7 min.
A London street stands in for an Israeli checkpoint as a driver who has collided with a cyclist attempts to rush her to a hospital. In English. Both in DigiBeta video. (BS)
TRIUMPH67
- Closing Night Film
Showtimes
Tickets
Dan Tanz in person!
- TRIUMPH67
- 2011, Dan Tanz, USA, 93 min.
- With Kareem Aal, Adam Elsafy
“A handsomely shot psychological drama.”
—Chris Hewitt, Pioneer Press
“Poignant and moody…recalls BLOW UP.”
—Colin Covert, Star Tribune
A tale of two Palestinian brothers born in London and transplanted to the Twin Cities, TRIUMPH67 is told from the perspective of Mohannad, a man who, despite his greater success, has lived in the shadow of his talented and roguishly handsome older brother Sami, a footloose photographer. Sami’s sudden death brings Mohannad back home, where encountering the woman who was once his brother’s lover leads to a life-changing disclosure that puts the past in a new light and reconfigures the future. In English. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
A SPACE EXODUS
2009, Larissa Sansour, Palestine, 6 min.
A witty parody of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. A Palestinian astronaut stakes a claim for her nation. In English. HDCAM video. (BS)
Dan Tanz, director of TRIUMPH67, will be present for audience discussion.
THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN
Showtimes
Tickets
- THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN
- 2010, Dahna Abourahme, Lebanon, 54 min.
The story of how women revived their community and families following the imprisonment of their men and the 1982 burning of the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon is told through striking black-and-white animation and interviews that highlight the expressive faces of Palestinian women of all ages. Director Abourahme follows through on the superhero analogy suggested by her animation, underlining the everyday heroism of the women who rebuilt the camp and created new opportunities to bring their influence to bear. In Arabic with English subtitles. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
ISTHMUS
2011, Almohannad Kalthoum, Syria/Palestine, 30 min.
A young activist, one of the third generation born outside of Palestine, tells the story of her daring and dangerous incursion into the territory of her homeland. In Arabic with English subtitles. DVCAM video. (BS)
LOVE DURING WARTIME
Showtimes
Tickets
- LOVE DURING WARTIME
- 2010, Gabriella Bier, Sweden/Palestine, 92 min.
“Heartbreaking and unusually intimate."
—Benjamin Mercer, The Atlantic
In the moving documentary LOVE DURING WARTIME, Jasmin, a dancer from Jerusalem, and Assi, a sculptor from Ramallah, are young, in love, and newly married. That they are not living together is not fallout from a lovers’ quarrel, but the harsh penalty imposed by the combination of draconian Israeli citizenship laws and the harassment that makes living as a couple in either Israel or the West Bank impossible. A new life in Europe beckons, but it’s a solution that threatens to strain their relationship to the limit. In Arabic, Hebrew, German, and English with English subtitles. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
BEFORE YOU IS THE SEA
2011, Hisham Zreiq, Palestine/Israel, 9 min.
With Hisham Suliman, Hili Yalon
A Palestinian man and an Israeli woman reach a stalemate in discussing the future of their relationship. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. Mini-DV video. (BS)
ENEMY ALIEN
Showtimes
Tickets
- ENEMY ALIEN
- 2009, Konrad Aderer, USA, 81 min.
ENEMY ALIEN follows the troubling case of New York Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti, one of more than 1,200 American Muslim immigrants arrested and imprisoned on mere speculation in the wake of 9/11. Filmmaker Aderer, whose mother was born in a Japanese internment camp, was galvanized into action by comparing the pattern of repeating history, as the Department of Homeland Security extends efforts to persecute and segregate Arabs. In prison, Abdel-Muhti suffers prolonged abuse by authorities for maintaining his innocence, and his struggle becomes an inspiration to those seeking to protect the rights of minorities. In English. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
JUST ANOTHER DAY
2009, Hisham Zreiq, Germany/Palestine/Israel, 14 min.,/i>
An Arab immigrant in Germany hides his broken heart in seclusion, but breaking news will alter his fate. In Arabic and German with English subtitles. Mini-DV video. (BS)
Presented in conjunction with WBEZ’s
Global Activism Expo 2012.
ROADMAP TO APARTHEID
Showtimes
Tickets
- ROADMAP TO APARTHEID
- 2011, Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson, USA/Israel/South Africa, 95 min.
Striking parallels between the rise and implementation of the Apartheid system in South Africa and the systematic segregation and oppression of Palestinians in Israel and the Left Bank are detailed in ROADMAP TO APARTHEID, a film that functions both as an astute work of political analysis and a gripping historical account. Interviews with South Africans, Israelis, and Palestinians illustrate the similarities and the differences yet point to the hope suggested by the dawn of justice in South Africa. In English. Mini-DV video.
Preceded by:
NO WAY THROUGH
2009, Alexandra Monro and Sheila Menon, UK, 7 min.
A London street stands in for an Israeli checkpoint as a driver who has collided with a cyclist attempts to rush her to a hospital. In English. DigiBeta video. (BS)
THE INVISIBLE POLICEMAN
Showtimes
Tickets
- THE INVISIBLE POLICEMAN
- 2011, Laith Al-Juneidi,
- Palestine/Netherlands/UAE, 59 min.
The divisions and conflicts of the West Bank city Hebron are reflected in the sharp rift between the public and private life of Abu Sa’eed, a lieutenant in the Palestinian National Authority Police Department. In uniform, he’s an authority figure and protector; out of uniform, he’s just another disempowered Palestinian man helpless to protect his large family from daily indignities and abuses. This compassionate portrait looks for hope amid the harsh realities of a caring father’s predicament. In Arabic with English subtitles. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
DOORS TO THE SEA
(PUERTAS AL MAR)
2011, Nacho García, Inés Grocin, Anxela Iglesias, and Carlos Sordo, Spain, 25 min.
The Israeli army undertakes actions that deprive Gaza fisherman of their access to the sea. In Spanish and Arabic with English subtitles. Mini-DV video. (BS)
THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN
Showtimes
Tickets
- THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN
- 2010, Dahna Abourahme, Lebanon, 54 min.
The story of how women revived their community and families following the imprisonment of their men and the 1982 burning of the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon is told through striking black-and-white animation and interviews that highlight the expressive faces of Palestinian women of all ages. Director Abourahme follows through on the superhero analogy suggested by her animation, underlining the everyday heroism of the women who rebuilt the camp and created new opportunities to bring their influence to bear. In Arabic with English subtitles. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by:
BEING WITH JULIANO
2011, Emtiaz Diab, Palestine, 26 min.
a film documenting the legacy of vibrant film and stage actor Juliano Mer-Khamis, founder of The Freedom Theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. DigiBeta video. (BS)
