Boston Palestine Film Festival 2009

City of Borders takes viewers into Shushan, a gay bar in the heart of Jerusalem where people of opposing nationalities, religious affiliations, and sexual orientations gather under one roof to find acceptance and create a community among people who typically view one another with deep suspicion. Set against the construction of Israel’s Separation Wall and the struggle to hold a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, this resilient community fights daily for dignity and their right to be who they are. In observing the lives and struggles of the regulars at Shushan, City of Borders highlights the bond forged when people from warring worlds embrace what everyone shares in common. Yun Suh has worked in radio and broadcast television news for the past eight years, producing documentary shorts in her spare time. She has extensively covered news on the Middle East and has reported from Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip. Her nominations include Best Radio Documentary from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters for her one-hour long radio report, Sabra & Shatilla (2003), on the survivors of the systematic 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps. She received a local Emmy nomination for producing a news feature, Comfort Women (2001). In 2002, she earned the Support, Training and Access for New Directors (STAND) grant from the Film Arts Foundation. Guest presenter: Tom Wallace Tom Wallace is a human rights and media activist which includes issues relating to Palestine as well as GLBT and AIDS issues. During the spring of 2003 he spent three months in the West Bank and Gaza as the media coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement: a particularly difficult time for Palestinians and internationals alike. He co-founded Rachel's Words and built American Hummus , a website devoted to analyzing US broadcast media relating to Palestine and the Middle East in general. He is now studying film making in Tucson AZ. Film review from Variety

Kamar is a free-spirited dancer in Ramallah. Her husband, Zaid, is suddenly imprisoned for resisting Israeli confiscation of their land. Suddenly a prisoner’s wife, Kamar finds herself isolated and alienated from everything she loves, including dance. Defying familial and societal taboos, she stops by her former dance studio. Matters are complicated when a handsome new dance instructor and choreographer, Kais, returns after many years in Lebanon and takes a special interest in Kamar. Kamar struggles to balance her own desires with her moral obligations as a political prisoner’s wife. This film honestly addresses the way a Palestinian woman might face the harsh realities of life in modern-day Palestine while refusing to be defined by them. Najwa Najjar is a filmmaker living in Palestine. Pomegranates and Myrrh is her first fictional film. The script won the Amiens Scriptwriting Award and was partly developed in the Sundance Scriptwriting Lab. Her previous works include several award-winning films shown worldwide, including Yasmine Tughani , Naim and Wadee'a , Quintessence of Oblivion , Blue Gold , A Boy Called Mohamad and They Came From the East . Film reviews: Variety Al Jazeera