Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008

Lecture and film clips by renowned Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi titled "Palestinian Cinema". RECEPTION follows the lecture. The Michel Khleifi program was made possible by the participation of the Program in Cinema Studies at Northeastern University. Directions: 20 West Village F (Large towers visible across the street from the MFA). Building 23 on this map accessible by the Green Line. Free Admission - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi and Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan set off on a two-month cinematic journey along the north-south axis of the land of their birth. They trace their trajectory on a map and call it Route 181, after U.N. Resolution 181, which in 1947 called for the partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. All those who cross their path are given voice: men and women, Israelis and Palestinians, young and old— all captured in the everyday life of a sixty-year conflict. By portraying both the divide of the physical landscape and that of the humans who inhabit it, the film elegantly conveys a fuller understanding. Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth in 1950. In 1970 he traveled to Belgium where he studied television and theater. His films include: Fertile Memory (1980), Ma'loul Celebrates its Destruction (1985), Wedding in Galilee (International Critics Prize, Cannes 1987), Canticle of the Stones (1990), L'Ordre du Jour (1993), and Tale of the Three Jewels (1995). Tale of the Three Jewels is the first feature film ever to be filmed in the Gaza Strip. It was made in the days following the Hebron Massacre and before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority. The Michel Khleifi program was made possible by the participation of the Program in Cinema Studies at Northeastern University.

Tale of the Three Jewels is a moving parable and the first feature film ever to be filmed in the Gaza Strip. Made in the days following the Hebron Massacre, it tells the story of Yussef, a twelve-year-old boy who escapes the surrounding violence by retreating into an imaginary world of his own creation. One day he meets Aida, a gypsy girl with whom he falls in love. When Yussef declares his desire to marry her, she tells him that he must first find three missing jewels. An Official Selection of the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the 1997 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth in 1950. In 1970 he traveled to Belgium where he studied television and theater directing. His films include: Fertile Memory (1980), Ma'loul Celebrates its Destruction (1985), Wedding in Galilee (1987 - International Critics Prize, Cannes 1987), Canticle of the Stones (1990), L'Ordre du Jour (1993), and Tale of the Three Jewels (1995). Tale of the Three Jewels is the first feature film ever to be filmed in the Gaza Strip. It was made in the days following the Hebron Massacre and before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority. The Michel Khleifi program was made possible by the participation of the Program in Cinema Studies at Northeastern University.

The elder of a Palestinian village is given permission to hold a traditional wedding for his son— on the condition that the Israeli military governor and his staff be guests of honor. Wedding in Galilee is a sensual and compelling meditation on two conflicting cultures that attempt to put aside their differences for one long day of celebration. This richly detailed allegory of marriage, tradition and national identity established Michel Khleifi as an extraordinary feature filmmaker. LA Times critic Michael Wilmington calls it, "A fine film beautifully shot…wonderfully acted.” Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth in 1950. In 1970 he traveled to Belgium where he studied television and theater directing. His films include: Fertile Memory (1980), Ma'loul Celebrates its Destruction (1985), Wedding in Galilee (International Critics Prize, Cannes 1987), Canticle of the Stones (1990), L'Ordre du Jour (1993), and Tale of the Three Jewels (1995). Tale of the Three Jewels is the first feature film ever to be filmed in the Gaza Strip. It was made in the days following the Hebron Massacre and before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority. The Michel Khleifi program was made possible by the participation of the Program in Cinema Studies at Northeastern University.