Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008

The second in a series entitled Inessential (Gaza in Three Pieces), this short film features farmers relating the effects of Israeli blockades on their ability to farm. Long crippled by the effects of Israeli bulldozing, shelling, and sanctions, the farms of Beit Hanoun, located just four miles from Israel, have been shut down. An eerie silence punctuated by occasional Israeli strikes envelops the farm.

Maryam Monalisa Gharavi visited Gaza and filmed Inessential in January 2008. She has written/directed several short films, including Psychosomatic (2005) Dreams of Wingless Flight (2003) and All About My Lover (2002). She worked on feature film projects Situation Room #2 (2005) with NY-based director Steve Staso, Security (2005) with Cannes/Sundance-winning director Rob Nilsson, and most recently on the PBS television documentary Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age (2008). She has screened her work at the Pacific Film Archive, Women of Color Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, among others. Currently she is a doctoral candidate in Comparative Literature and Film and Visual Studies at Harvard University.