It was evidence of the success for the Ramallah Doc‘s training and coproduction initiative. For the first time, since it’s launching in 2009, the last event of the Pitch, the Screening session - held in Ramallah on May 11th - was composed exclusively of documentaries which had been developed in Ramallah doc’s workshops. Last year and the years before the Screenings had either prior films of the participants or famous dcumentaries dealing with the conflict. On Saturday May 11 at the Popular Arts Centre Al Bireh three films were screened: «The Inflitrators» by Khaled Jarrar (Storydoc alumnus 2010), «Gaza calling» byNahed Awwad (allumnus 2011) and «Gaza 35mm». A warm reception in a full theater highlighted the success of that evening.
The Ramallah Doc’s 2013 outcomes seem more promissing than ever. Four films in development were awarded prizes in cash of a total amount of 14.000 $ thanks to the integration of the A.M . Qattan Foundation in the initiative and the contribution of the French and Goethe Institutes. The aim of the awards is to support the production of the films.The films that won awards are not the only ones that are promissing. At least three more projects have a strong potential for international coproduction according to the opinion of the experienced commissioning editors from Europe and the US who took part in the Pitch session and the team of tutors who trained the 14 filmmakers during the workshop of April and after that through skype and excange emails.
This event was supported by AFAC.The four awarded projects are the following: «The Common Ground», «The Hypothetical State», «Bells of Yesterday» and «Revisiting Superheroes».
Here are the short descriptions about the stories of the films:
1) The Common Ground, by Ameen Nayfeh - Co-Director & Co-Producer and Johanna Ickert – Director.
An alternative naration of the conflict-let say a green and non violence aspect of the Palestinian registance .The Common Ground documentary portrays the compelling visions of people that engage in non-violent, green resistance in Palestine: A Bedouin family builds an “Aquaponic” to address water scarcity. A village in Area C becomes energy self-sufficient. A family man sets up a perm culture garden at the foot of Ariel. A playback theatre group offers “drama therapy”…All of these groups have something in common: They want to reinvent the future. Now!
2) Hypothetical State, by Akram Al-Ashqar and Said Zagha
Whenever seemingly positive political developments were happening in the Palestinian-Israeli arena, there were always laudatory and optimistic reactions from the international community. In the personal experiences of the directors of this documentary, both AkramAshqar and Said Zagha were repeatedly approached by foreigners interested in Palestine to congratulate them on such “historic achievements.” These “achievements” have ranged from the Oslo Accords in 1993 until the UN General Assembly granted Palestine a non-member observer state status in 2012. In an attempt to understand their own skepticism of the future of the Palestinian state, the filmmakers have decided to embark on an investigative journey to examine the major political changes that have occurred between 1993 and 2013.3) Emwas, By Dima Abu Ghoush
Emwas will follow the journey of Dima, the director, in her attempt to build a maquette of her demolished hometown Emwas, with the help of her family. As there's no map of the village, she will use a map that her uncle drew from memory, and meet the people of Emwas to ask them about their houses and other places in the village. The film will raise questions related to the future of Emwas and its people, as well as the question of the relation between people and places: do we inhabit our places or do they haunt us?4) Bells of Yesterday, By Laila Abbas
The Bells of Yesterday takesviewers in a unique journey in the elementary school system in Palestine. The film uses the core of Palestinian education, the curriculum, to tell the story and ask all the inevitable questions that have been haunting the filmmaker for so long. The story will be told through images/illustrations and text extracted from their ordinary context and used creatively to build a colorful informative documentary narrative. This film goes deeper in the character of the Palestinian individual and society to see the effects of education on a struggling people in desperate need to preserve their identity and defend their existence.
Through the unique use of images and sound, the characters that live only on the pages of textbooks are brought to life and are given stories and voices to speak. Narration tellslots of background information that makes the film accessible to non-Palestinian audiences as well. The narration embraces a storytelling nature that makes the film look and sound like a kids story. The film moves gracefully from one topic to another and returns to certain topics and characters to create drama, tension and a repetition motif that resembles the repetitiveness of education. The film asks very serious questions in a generally lighthearted tone that combines witty subtle humor with deep emotions.
5) Revisiting Superheroes, by Jadallah and Habib Allah.
In the 80’s, the Ali brothers, mute and def. Found their idols in the Von Erich brothers; the invincible wrestlers of the WWF wrestling matches. Through hard work, the Ali’s came to resemble the wrestlers in appearance and vitality. Though wrestling was confined to the ring, the Ali’s took it to the streets. The relationship to the Von Erich’s progressed to surpass idolization. Both families suffered death and a similar destiny.
This film will research the Ali’s story to weave through questions regarding what does it mean to have an idol and how does it function in the live of the fan. It also spreads out to more sedimentary questions about imitation, which is one of the components rooted in the relationship between an idol and his fan. How does that fit with the culture of today that is based on imitation as a surface value?
6) Hantoush, by Khaled Jarrar
A 15-year old Bedouin girl writes a fantastical story about a flying goat and is launched into an international spotlight. But when her new-found celebrity leaves her with a handful of broken promises she’s disillusioned, prompting an investigation into the situation of her community in Wadi Abu Hindi, and their place in the bigger picture of Palestinian development.
HANTOUSH combines an investigation by the filmmaker into the phenomenon of SalihaHamdan’s celebrity with a lyrical portrait of the community of Wadi Abu Hindi where she lives; a Bedouin village that was designated as Area C under the Oslo agreement and remains under the full control of the Israeli military occupation.
7)The Unforgotten, by Ghada Terawi.
A journey in the life of Kozo, a Japanese hijacker, member of the Japanese Red Army, who gave up his life in Japan to join the Palestinian liberation movement.
The film knits an epic map of his journey through stories of Palestinians and Japanese who crossed Kozo’s life and affected it.
His older brother’s action of hijacking a Japanese airplane to North Korea in the 1970 had a huge impact on him. It paved Kozo’s serious involvement with the Japanese Red Army. As a result, Kozo made his important trip to Lebanon and volunteered for the mission in Lod Airport.
Living this romantic dream of a “world revolutionary” was a stage in Kozo’s life. But being the only survivor of that operation was a turning point in his life. The interrogation process in Israeli jails, the trial and finally 13 years in Israeli prisons, marked his whole life and formed the person of whom he is now.
Being freed from prison after prisoners exchange deal between Israel and the PFLP in 1985, took him to another journey, where he faced loss, insecurity, betrayal and never a peace of mind.
With “The UnForgotten” the director will try to reveal his life’s journey that is full of contradictions; ups and downs, waiting and hope, pain and frustration.
