Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008

May 15, 1948, marks the day the British government abandoned the Arab-Jewish battlefields and left both groups in the throes of war. Major Derek Cooper witnessed those final days of the mandate as an officer in the British Army. Going Home tells the story of Cooper's return to Israel in the summer of 1995. In an effort to capture the past, Cooper and his wife revisit famous sites and talk to Palestinians and Israelis about the events of 1948. This film is a compelling look back at the beginning of a conflict that would last for generations to come. Omar Qattan was born in Beirut, Lebanon to Palestinian parents. His father, Abd al-Rahman Qattan, came from Jaffa, but had to flee the city in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. His family moved to London in 1975. In 1982, Omar Qattan was strongly influenced by the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Qattan began his filming career by directing 15 to 20-minute documentaries and dramas. His first full-length film, Dreams & Silence, was made in 1991. The documentary received the Joris Ivens Award and was broadcast in Europe and Australia. He founded Sindibad Films Ltd in 1993 and forged a close partnership with filmmaker Michel Khleifi. The two co-produced and directed Tale of the Three Jewels and Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land. Qattan's latest full-length film and perhaps the most controversial is Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, a two-hour documentary on Muhammad's life and his legacy with Muslims in the United States. It was aired on PBS in 2002 and won great acclaim.

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.