PALESTINE SQUARE By Khelil Bouarrouj The Idol by Hany Abu-Assad, an acclaimed Palestinian director with two Academy Award nominations to his credit, is set for imminent release in US theaters by adopt films. Unlike Paradise Now (2005), which trailed two would-be suicide bombers and Omar (2013), a cat-and-mouse tale about Palestinian collaborators and Israeli intelligence … Continued
The Lebanese box office sensation What About Tomorrow – consisting of old 8mm footage of performances of legendary singer/writer Ziad Rahbani’s play of the same name ̶ will make its U.S. premiere during the Arab American National Museum’s 2016 Arab Film Festival, part of the Cinetopia International Film Festival June 3-12, 2016, at venues throughout southeast Michigan. Leyla Bouzid’s … Continued
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Some of the sweeping scenes of Arabia in the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia were actually filmed in Morocco. Credit: Courtesy of Horizon Pictures Jake Warga Public Radio International Morocco is a very large movie set — from sands to cities. It’s served as a stand-in for Arabia in “Lawrence of Arabia,” Abu Dhabi in … Continued
In commemoration of Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, Foty Fusion Productions has created this video montage of songs from 1929 to present day, highlighting Palestinian resistance through music. The selected songs include know and unknown artists that played a significant role in the fight against the injustices against the Palestinian people.
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Haidar Eid Mondoweiss I tried to explain to my late mother that she had to be expelled from Zarnouqa in 1948, leave her memories and house behind because a crazy bigot had committed a pogrom against Jews in Europe, but she neither wanted to understand (“what does that have to do with us?”) nor accept … Continued
Hili Perlson
Artnet.com
Ai Weiwei and a film crew in the West Bank, Monday, May 9. Courtesy of Einat Fishbain via Facebook.
The socially-engaged artist Ai Weiwei, who is currently working on a documentary film on refugees, landed in Israel yesterday, May 9, to conduct a series of interviews for his upcoming film project.
Ai visited Jerusalem and the West Bank, and was planning on traveling to the Gaza strip today, but was initially denied permission to enter, as reported by the independent Israeli news blog HA-Makom.
Following the blog’s report, which was picked up by other Israeli news outlets and made waves on social media, the artist and his crew were finally granted entry.
Ai had arranged a three-day stay in the Gaza Strip, and coordinated the trip with the Israeli production company Highlight, which is filming on location with the politically engaged artist.
As Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, May 11, immediately followed by Independence Day on May 12, the crossing will be shut off for three full days starting tonight due to heightened security procedures. Ai and his film crew were planning on staying in Gaza until the border reopens.
The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT), who is responsible for issuing entry permits to Gaza, is obligated to grant entry into Gaza only for the members of international press who hold state-issued press IDs. Ai and his team are not considered journalists.
In addition, the daily paper Haaretz reports that according to CoGAT, Ai and the film crew did not apply for their permissions in due course, and that a speedy procedure was underway.
A CoGAT’s spokesperson responded to Ha-Makom’s report, saying “On May 3rd, we received said request to enter Gaza, just several days prior to the planned arrival. As in the case of every visit to Gaza, the request has to undergo inspection by security officials, and due to the short notice, we were unable to do so. We have now sent an urgent request to the Israeli Security Agency, but the request will not be taken care of before Independence Day, so the team will have to stay in Israel for a few more days. We can’t promise their entry to Gaza, but we promise to take care of the request.”
However, rather than a few days, permission was granted in a matter of hours, on Monday evening. Ai and the film crew will be heading to the Gaza Strip today.
Ai has started the visit with interviews in Israel, and met with Member of the Knesset Ayman Odeh, of the Joint List, and Hagai El-ad, executive director of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, to talk about the state of both the Palestinian refugees as well as refugees worldwide. Following the interviews, he headed to the West Bank, and filmed at refugee camps around Bethlehem.
Since relocating to Berlin last year, around the same time that the refugee crisis has reached devastating proportions, Ai has made countless trips to refugee camps in Greece and Macedonia, and has even opened a studio on the island of Lesbos, an entry point to Europe for refugees making the perilous journey from Turkey to Greece.
While attempting to leverage his celebrity to highlight the plight of refugees, Ai has also staged certain gestures that came under fire for being too crass, like creating a photograph of himself lying on a beach, recalling a shocking photo of drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi.
He’s also hung life vests on the façade of a Berlin concert hall during the city’s film festival, and then invited guests at a gala there, including Hollywood actress Charlize Theron, to pose wearing emergency thermal blankets.
Based on first-hand accounts rather than attention-grabbing aesthetics, the documentary he is currently filming could very well be a thoughtful and candid—not to mention historically valuable—report on the Middle East refugee crisis.
“I did hundreds of interviews,” Ai recently told Reuters in Bern, Switzerland, where he was speaking to reporters at the opening of “Chinese Whispers,” an exhibition of contemporary Chinese artists from the collection of Uli Sigg at the Paul Klee Center.
He plans to release the film in 2017.
Source: news.artnet.com
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BY: Rana Mroue, Vocal Director at Aswat Ensemble Special to Arab America The Bay Area’s premiere Arab Music Ensemble, Aswat, is celebrating the life and works of Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish in a tribute concert on June 4th in San Bruno, CA. Darwish is hailed as the “Father of Modern Arab music”, and in his short … Continued
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer With the sad passing of music legend and pop icon Prince, Arab America remembers him in a special way. The 2004 song ‘Cinnamon Girl’ by Prince is not one of his top hits, but one we remember in the Arab American community for the powerful video that went along with the … Continued
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