FILMS AT RICE MEDIA CENTER

Friday, May 13, 2011 ~ 7 PM

Jaffa, The Orange’s Clockwork

by Eyal Sivan (In Attendance)

88 min. Israel, France

Based on photographic and cinematographic documents, some going back as far as to the 19th century, Eyal Sivan’s film shows the orange groves at a time when Arab Jaffa was one of Palestine’s most populated and thriving cities.

Q & A with director Eyal Sivan will be followed by a reception and photo exhibit by Khalil AbuSharekh

Saturday, May 14, 2011 ~ 7 PM

A Night of Shorts

Ela Batn el-Hoot (Into the Belly of the Whale)

by Hazim Bitar

24 min. Jordan, Palestine

Younis (Jonah) decides to make his last tunnel run between Gaza and Egypt, to break the Israeli siege, but things take a turn for the worst. While stuck underground, he ponders existential questions about fate and the contradictions of being alive underground.

End of September

by Sama Alshaibi (In Attendance) and Ala’ Younis

15 min. Jordan, Palestine, Iraq

Multiple mysteries of the past collide with the return of a Palestinian fedai to the country she thought she knew. Dalal journeys between time periods and different planes of reality and is never able to trust what constitutes the “truth” in her many confrontations.

Lesh Sabreen?

by Muayad Alayan

20 min. Occupied Palestinian Territory

Set in a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem, two young lovers’ dreams for the future are thwarted in a socially conservative and Israeli-controlled community.

Run Lara Run

by Larissa Sansour

2 min. Egypt

Run Lara Run addresses the issue of identity and belonging. The film explores the idea of displaced identities typical of societies that have undergone political turmoil and their Diasporas. Cultural hybridity is also called into question.

Sense of Morning

by Maysaloun Hamoud

10 min. Israel

On the last night of the siege on Beirut during the war of 1982, a young Palestinian poet strives to reach the kitchen in order to observe his everyday routine of coffee and cigarettes, despite the plight of the war going on around him. The film is inspired by “Memory of Forgetfulness” by Mahmud Darwish (1987).

Shwesh Shwesh (Easy Easy)

by Riyad Deis

22 min. Palestine

Set in rural Palestine in 1939 at the end of the Palestinian revolt against the British Mandate, “Shwesh Shwesh” follows a Palestinian farmer and his family whose traditional and stagnant lives get turned upside down when a Palestinian resistance fighter decides to hide out in their small farm home and brings revolutionary ideas into the family and challenges their traditional way of life.

Q &A with End of September director Sama Alshaibi will be followed by a reception.

Musical performance by David Sha (Houston) and photo exhibit by Khalil AbuSharekh

Sunday, May 15, 2011

by Juliano Mer-Khamis and Danniel Danniel

85 min. Israel, Netherlands

Arna Mer-Khamis was a legendary activist against the Israeli Occupation. Born into a Jewish family, she married a Palestinian Arab and spent her life campaigning for justice and human rights in her homeland. Arna founded an alternative education system for Palestinian children whose lives had been disrupted by Israeli occupation. Shifting back and forth in time, Mer-Khamis’s film juxtaposes the sweet-faced young boys with the militants and martyrs they become. Arna’s Children reveals the tragedy and horror of young lives trapped by the circumstances of occupation.

Special guest appearance by Matan Cohen (peace activist and dear friend/colleague of Juliano Mer-Khamis) will be followed by a light reception

FILMS AT MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON

Friday, May 20, 2011 ~ 7 PM

Fix Me

by Raed Andoni

98 min. Palestine, France, Switzerland

Suffering from headaches, film-maker Raed Andoni consults a psychologist, leading to a course of 20 therapy sessions where he explores the individual memories of Palestinians, featuring a colorful array of characters, including members of his own family.

Saturday, May 21, 2011 ~ 7 PM

The Imperialists Are Still Alive!

(Rated R)

by Zeina Durra

90 min. USA (*this film is Rated R)

A successful visual artist working in post-9/11 Manhattan, Asya lives the life of the hip and glamorous while she carefully follows the situation in the Middle East on television. Asya’s life is reflective of the themes of cultural fusion, and the complications and humor that arise simultaneously out of everyday life.

Q & A with actor José María de Tavira will be followed by our closing night party at Nouveau Antique Art Bar (2913 Main St., 77002)