Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008

Slingshot Hip Hop weaves together the stories of young Palestinians living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank as they use hip hop to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. Salloum follows these young artists as they grapple with the day-to-day physical boundaries imposed by the occupation, not to mention the more subtle forms of division that conspire to restrict their lives. From internal checkpoints and the Separation Wall to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them. Sling Shot is a rousing film not to be missed. Critic Justin Chang states “Salloum…pounds home the point that art is more constructive than violence” (Variety). An official selection at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Jackie Reem Salloum is a New York-based artist and filmmaker. Drawing on her Palestinian and Syrian roots, her pop-infused work focuses on challenging stereotypes of Arabs in the media. She has directed several shorts including Planet of the Arabs, which received the International Editing Award at the 2005 CinemaTexas Film Festival and was an official selection in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. After receiving her MFA from New York University, Salloum began directing her first feature-length documentary Slingshot Hip Hop. Five years in the making, Sling Shot made its premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival-Documentary Competition and won Official Selection at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.