Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008

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.