press kit - Haos Film

PALESTINE BLUES a film by Nida Sinnokrot
Awards and Screenings
AWARDS IN COMPETITION:
2008 ECOCINEMA International Film Festival – Reportage and Documentation – Best Film
2007 CMCA- Prix International du Documentaire et du Reportage Mediterraneen – Best First Film
2007 Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier – Best First Film
2006 DOCUSUR International Film Festival – Best First Feature
2006 AMAL Euro-Arab International Film Festival – Best Documentary
2006 New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival – Best Feature Film
OFFICIAL SELECTION (listed in alphabetical order) :
Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival – Doha, Qatar
Al Kasaba International Film Festival – Ramallah, Palestine
AMAL Euro-Arab, International Film Festival – Santiago de Compostella, Spain
Boston Palestine Film Festival – Boston, MA
Chicago Underground Festival
CMCA- Prix International du Documentaire et du Reportage Mediterraneen – First Film
CinemaTexas Parallax View – Austin, Texas
“ Cinema Verite” International Documentary Film Festival – Tehran, Iran
Creación Bajo Las Bombas (Filming Under Fire) – Madrid and Cordoba, Spain
DOCUSUR International Film Festival – Best First Feature
Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier – Montpellier, France
Festival de la Memoria Documental Latinoamericano – Tepoztlan, Mexico
Filmer À Tout Prix – Brussels, Belgium
Houston Palestine Film Festival – Houston,TX
Jerusalem Fund Summer Film Festival– Washington, D.C.
London Palestine Film Festival – London, UK
MIZNA – Minnesota Arab Film Festival – Minneapolis, MN
Muestra Nacional de Nuevos Realizadores (ICAIC) Habana, Cuba
New Cinemas of the Arab World: Film Festival and Symposium – Edinburgh, UK
New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival – New Orleans, LA
New York Underground Film Festival
One World International Human Rights Film Festival – Prague, Czech Republic
One World Slovakia Human Rights Film Festival – Bratislava, Slovakia
Palestine Audio-Visual Project Cineclub – Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan
Rencontres Cinema Du Réel à L’Imaginaire – Manosque, France
Santiago International Film Festival – Santiago, Chile
SPECIAL SCREENINGS :
Palestine Audio-Visual Project Cineclub screenings – Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan
Ragtag Cinema – Columbia, Missouri (hosted by True/False Film Festival)
Roxie Theatre – San Francisco, California (hosted by San Francisco Arab Film Festival)
California Theatre – Oakland, California (hosted by San Francisco Arab Film Festival)
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PALESTINE BLUES a film by Nida Sinnokrot
Press
"Village Voice”
Alternative Realities
Cosmic commies, Christian rockers, and gay Republicans at the
13th annual NYUFF
by Joshua Land
March 7th, 2006 12:45 PM
States of Unbelonging decries Israel's West Bank wall for cutting Palestine
off from itself; the more resolutely materialist Palestine Blues decries the
wall for cutting Palestine off from its water. Palestinian American
filmmaker Nida Sinnokrot's film begins with the 2003 death of American
activist Rachel Corrie, going on to detail both the wall's construction and
the corresponding resistance (including a couple firefights). Marred only
by the increasingly ubiquitous problem of flat narration, Palestine Blues
is a vital corrective to omission-riddled mainstream media accounts, and a
nice illustration of why both the underground and the Underground remain
relevant, even essential.
Chicago Sun-Times
Entertainment Archive
Underground festival connects films, fans
August 18, 2006
BY BILL STAMETS
"Palestine Blues": Dedicated to nine dead protesters, this impassioned
documentary starts at the site where a bulldozer killed 23 year-old American protester
Rachel Corrie. New Yorker Nida Sinnokrot sides with Palestinian farmers displaced by
heavily-armed Israeli heavy equipment crew s that uproot orchards to build a massive
security wall. At times he hides his camera and lies to guards at checkpoints, but
does not otherwise over-personalize his heroics. There's no in-depth political
coverage here, just key up-close footage of intractable hostilities. (Repeat screening
at 7:30 p.m. Aug 24)
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CHICAGO READER
Sunday August 20, 2006
Fred Camper
Palestine Blues This first-person documentary about the effects of the
security wall Israel’s building across occupied Palestine in defiance of the
International Court of Justice is an affecting cri de coeur, though director
Nida Sinnokrot takes sides—we don’t hear about any Palestinian
terrorism. It’s hard not to mourn with Arabs who’ve been convicted of
nothing but have been driven out of homes and farms where their families
have lived and worked for generations or to stomach the “Israelis only”
road across which a Palestinian hauls furniture by hand. Bulldozers are
made to seem like movie monsters, but most effective is Sinnokrot’s
constantly roving camera, sometimes tilted sideways, which effectively
conveys the Palestinians’ wrenching displacement. In English and Arabic
with subtitles. 72 min.
Austin Chronicle
HOME: SEPTEMBER 22, 2006: SCREENS
Parallax View: The Political Economy of Images
BY WELLS DUNBAR
Parallax program Apocalypse Nigh: Death and Terror in the Middle East shows the
effects of Israeli aggression, something very rarely seen stateside. "Palestine Blues,"
by video and installation artist Nida Sinnokrot, documents how Israel destroys
Palestinian farms and family homes in its path of its illegal security wall. While filled
with breathless vérité footage, it's the quiet moments – idyllic trips through citrus
groves slated for destruction – that reverberate.
The Washington Report
on Middle East Affairs
By Robert Hirschfield
January/February 2007
(cont.)
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“PALESTINE BLUES”
Al-Ayyam March 30, 2007
By Omar Kattan
(Original written in Arabic)
In recent years, the number of active cameras has increased like never before. Digital
technology has become relatively inexpensive. This enabled the camera to become of
prime importance in recording the events of the Intifada. In addition, it penetrated large
Palestinian (hot) areas. This excellent capability at recording (events) has undoubtedly
made the camera an effective tool in the political arena because it is capable of seeing
what an eye witness to an event can see, and of relating its testimony to the public in
defense of a particular political viewpoint, or proving the occurrence of a particular
event. With this in mind, it can be stated that the presence of the camera in daily life
has become an ordinary scene (phenomenon). That is to say, the public has become
accustomed to it, and its presence in our streets is no longer surprising. The main
challenge that this (developing/evolving technology) poses to film makers resides in the
necessity to control (master, command…) our audio-visual aspects of our language and
develop (evolve) it at a time when we are bearing witness to current events that (rapidly)
occur in our lives. Oftentimes, we forget that cinema is a complex language, and there
exists important differences between merely recording events on one hand,
and
intensely observing the same with the aim of discovering facts and human contradictions
that are deeply embedded within. This latter operation is described (expressed, set forth,
presented…) in Palestine Blues.
The Director of the film, Nida Sinnokrot, says that he tried to "discover the complexity
of exile (happenings, events…) through a phenomenological approach to complex and
independent events and by treating them as complex/independent phenomena through
discovering of the singular (particular) internal logic and the effect that human will and
awareness have on such phenomena. What is striking about his first long film is the
transformation of his expertise as a sculptor/carpenter in exile into an effective tool for
intense observation and feelings offering us a documentary whose beautiful style and
impact resembles more a Shakespearean Tragedy than to mere abstract reporting or
testimony.
Sinnokrot goes on to add, "One has to use a cinematic language that gives the
(photographed) personalities what they deserve of respect and self-pride." Undoubtedly,
this he accomplished successfully.
The main character in the film is a (tragedic) character endowed with an outstanding
personality. At the same time, it is endued (it enjoys) with (good) mannerism that gives
it many historic dimensions. It is Sharif Omar, owner of lands in Jayyous adjacent to the
Green Line in Northern West Bank, and engaged in farming since he returned in 1967
following his studies abroad. A (physical) relation ties him to the land that he loves and
holds on with deep affection despite its expropriation (confiscation) by the occupying
Israeli Army, and uprooting its trees, orchards and (fruit) fields. The film also presents
other persons from Sharif Omar's family, neighbors and village residents, in addition to a
number of activists from the International Solidarity Movement who come to Jayyous
and other villages to protect them from the Israeli occupying army and the settlers.
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Sinnokrot did well by selecting his personality (Sharif) not because it symbolizes a
particular (mode, manner, kind, genre…), but because it exudes spontaneity, humor (lightheartedness), love of nature, scents and colors; and because it smiles and resists despair,
and perseveres despite all odds, and also because of its love for poetry. At night fall,
Sharif likes to recite poetry from the works of his famous poet brother Abdul Raheem
Omar. Therefore, he is the struggling farmer who is remaining on his land, loving beauty
and poetry.
This ideal romantic portrayal (picture) soon disappears. Is Sharif Omar naive and
stubborn when he refuses to acknowledge that all his efforts in resisting the occupation
will fail? Here lies the "tragedy" in his character: The star in a Greek theatrical
(tragedy) drama and in Shakespears theater in particular, describes his intention to do
something that we know beforehand it will lead to tragedy, but he (Sharif) refuses to see
the reality of the situation as we the spectators (audience) see it. Sharif Omar will never
back off (retreat) and will not accept the occupation. Nevertheless, the film makes it
clear that his struggle will fail. Here, the film poses the difficult question that our
situation imposes on us: What good is non-violent (peaceful) resistance if it will lead to a
certain (inevitable) loss? And if the film presents this conclusion only, then what good
is watching it (seeing the movie)?
The film was shot end 2002 and during 2003. As if it warns if impending tragedy and
failure, the film starts with a visit to the site where the activist Rachel Cory was killed in
Gaza by an Israeli military bulldozer. This posed a painful question right from the
beginning: What good is this peaceful bravery when ruthless occupation machinery
(equipment) defeats it in cold blood? By posing this question, I believe that the film
poses the antithetical (contrary/opposite) question: If the peaceful resistance was not
encouraging (fruitful), were the results of the armed resistance useful?
One of the great values in seeing a work of art/tragedy lies in the fact that we come
closer to its characters and their environment (physical, cultural/social surroundings), and
the world they exist in. We acquire strong feelings and admiration that make us believe
in them as much as we feel saddened when tragedy befalls them. Nida Sinnokrot designed
(planned/built) his film as a theatrical tragedy. He chose a character endowed with
strength, humanity and optimism which made us (the audience) strongly believe and
absolutely convinced that it is capable of rising, renewal, and resisting despite our
realization that (no doubt) it will be defeated. The striking thing in this film is that we
come out stricken with (afflicted with) the optimism and perseverance that dwell in Sharif
Omar.
How did Sinnokrot manage to thrust (plunge) us into these "living' spaces and with such
power (force, energy, vigor…) ? The scenes in the film, especially the choice by the
director/photographer of (photographic) angles (scenes), gives it greatness, awe, and vast
admiration. In it, the sky is present in the scenes so is the earth (land).
The
photographer's eye did not forget the horizon that puts its mark (sign, seal, stamp…)
behind man or above him. In such choices, there is an atheistic (paganish) resemblance
that inspires the strength of nature even when confronted by the viciousness of man.
The striking thing about Sinnokrot as he observes (watches, looks at) the land of
Palestine – and he is the son of the exiled, detached from the land of his forefathers
(ancestors) – is his great love for it (the land) and the details of its environment
(surroundings), and his transparent observation of the different colors of its soil and trees,
and his keen (accurate, meticulous, careful…) listening to its beautiful sounds. This
excessive attention to the environment, in addition to the humanity of Sharif Omar – his
love, satire and optimism despite all obstacles (difficulties) – all that leaves us (the
audience) with great hope and the realization that life forces are capable of overcoming
violent suppression, death and occupation.
The other persisting (lingering) question posed by the film is: Will people resembling
Sharif Omar become extinct? I mean this from an anthropologic/societal point of view.
That is: Did the occupation completely succeed in breaking (severing) the latent and
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physical relationship between the Palestinian and his land in the West Bank and Gaza ( as
it did when it confiscated most of Palestinian lands in 1948) and give rise to a new kind of
man (different man)? And how will this expelled person (who lost his physical ties to
the land and farming) be like?
Palestine Blues presents personalities that pose these questions with baldness and
freedom. The Director is not hesitant (not afraid) in presenting the defeatist and weak
side (sector) of the Palestinian society as was the case of the woman accused of selling her
land to the settlers. But the overwhelming and stronger impression that it leaves is in
sincere (genuine) hope and life.
Omar Kattan
Copyright 2007
Martes, 29 de Mayo de 2007
Edición Impresa
Nida Sinnokrot desvela las razones del
muro israelí
Crónica
El director afincado en Nueva York muestra en su film cómo la
construcción se anexiona el manto acuífero
MIGUEL A. IGLESIAS
(Manuel Beceiro | santiago)
Uno de los documentales que ha cosechado un mayor éxito en
los primeros días del festival de cine euro-árabe Amal, razón
por la que será proyectado de nuevo esta tarde, es sin duda
alguna Palestine Blues , del joven director palestino Nida
Sinnokrot. El film gira en torno a la resistencia palestina contra
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la ocupación israelí, el levantamiento del muro y la expoliación
de un recurso tan elemental como es el agua.
El realizador y artista multimedia afincado en Nueva York viajó
a Palestina para hacer una instalación. Nida, que ya había
hecho una investigación sobre recursos acuíferos en la región,
quería analizar ahora las políticas subterráneas de la zona.
«No sólo porque el agua es importantísima para Palestinaconfiesa- sino para todas las políticas mundiales. Se dice que
la próxima guerra mundial será por agua, no por petróleo».
Su cámara recogió como un día, a una de esas aldeas llegaron
los bulldozers israelíes para tirar todo. «Pero lo curioso fue que
cuando llegaron las primeras noticias de que Israel iba a
levantar en esa región el muro -comenta-, la gente no sabía
porqué».
A medida que se construía el muro nadie sabía qué trayecto
iba a seguir, por lo que Nida Sinnokrot se decidió a seguirlo.
Con un amigo hidrólogo fue tomando medidas en las zonas
con recursos acuíferos siguiendo con un jeep y un GPS todas
las zonas. «Lo que descubrimos con esas lecturas del GPS y de
varios puntos simultáneos -señala Nida Sinnokrot- es que
discurríamos por el trazado del muro, confirmando lo que los
hidrólogos palestinos habían dicho, que su construcción
delimita las zonas más ricas de acuíferos, anexionándose todo
el gran acuífero subterráneo».
Sinnokrot aclara que esto no constituye ninguna sorpresa «si
se tiene en cuenta que desde 1967 Israel no permite la
construcción de ningún nuevo pozo en Palestina, y a los
existentes no permite darles más profundidad». Durante la
realización del film Nida fue apaleado varias veces por los
soldados judíos que le robaron una cámara, horas de material
y le rompieron otras dos cámaras. Pero fue afortunado pues
esos días mataron en la zona a nueve palestinos, dos
periodistas y un funcionario de la ONU a todos los que dedicó
el documental.
© Copy r ig h t L A VOZ DE GALICIA S.A.
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PALESTINE BLUES
A feature documentary
Director’s Statement
When I first began filming in Palestine during the summer of 2002, I was recording my daily commute
through Qallandiya checkpoint, the only passage connecting my home in Ramallah to Jerusalem. All the
while I was scouting locations for a landscape project I wanted to make on the subterranean politics of
water. My days consisted of crossing a checkpoint and, with the access afforded me by my American
Passport, driving to a farming village in the water rich region of the West Bank. I brought Blues music for
my drives, which later became the sound track of the film.
Shortly after driving into Jayyous, one of the first villages I had set out to explore, I bore witness to the
start of Israel’s construction of its Separation Barrier. At that time there was no one else around with a
video camera so I stayed in Jayyous and documented their story. Israel’s Wall and the resistance
movement against it became the thread that wove my original themes of checkpoints and changing
landscapes together; that’s how PALESTINE BLUES came about.
Synopsis
What is left for Palestinian farmers who learn that in 24hrs the Israeli Army will confiscate their lands for
the construction of a Security Wall? What do people do when their very survival is threatened by one of
the world’s most powerful armies?
PALESTINE BLUES tells the story of a village’s confusion, desperation, and resistance, their daily victories
and wrenching defeats. Unexpectedly filled with moments of poetry and humor this film’s intimate
access, unforgettable characters and story structure blur the line between documentary and narrative.
Filmed at times with a hidden camera and at times under extreme duress, Palestinian-American
filmmaker Nida Sinnokrot gives us a lasting chronicle of a people and their ancient life-giving orchards,
ever threatened by destruction.
Style
Beautifully shot in a narrative style on Mini-DV, PALESTINE BLUES is a cinematic journey that follows the
construction of the wall and its effects on West Bank villages over a seven-month period. Provocatively
framed against the musical backdrop of Blind Willie Johnson and Muddy Waters, PALESTINE BLUES
immerses the viewer in the confusion and desperation encountered by ordinary people as they adapt to
and resist the Wall’s impact on their lives.
Sinnokrot’s camerawork provides a sense of immediacy and intimacy for the viewer, in turn collapsing
cultural divides. As a Palestinian-American, he has access to worlds only an insider knows. He uses his
camera masterfully, as a key to gain entry into people’s homes, as a weapon for protecting Palestinians
from military abuse, and as a time capsule to record their stories and preserve Palestine’s disappearing
landscape.
(cont.)
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By opening a window into Palestinian hopes, fears and desires, PALESTINE BLUES integrates poetic
ruminations on the invisible dividing lines the wall imposes. While the Israeli occupation has severed the
region geographically, this film reveals the effects of this physical divide on the psyche of the
Palestinian people. Here the violence of geographical mapping results in not only in the loss of one's
land but also in the uprooting of one's memories, histories and future.
Structure
PALESTINE BLUES beings in Gaza on a solemn and rainy day in 2003, just 48 hours after an Israeli
bulldozer has claimed the life of American activist Rachel Corrie. The camera surveys the bleak
landscape, and at one point catches a group of proud yet exasperated townspeople tossing flowers at
an Israeli tank. The scene drifts between querulous children, Rachel’s funeral procession, and a witness
to her murder, before heading down the road. We have witnessed first hand the circumstances that led
to Rachel’s death, the construction of a security wall bordering the Gaza Strip, built in preparation for
Israel’s eventual withdrawal.
PALESTINE BLUES then moves to the town of Jayyous, a small Palestinian farming village in sharp
contrast to the Gaza Strip, abundant with fruits and vegetables. While sharing dinner with Abu Azzam,
a local farmer and community leader, a guest arrives with confiscation orders from the Israeli Army
announcing their plans to build a Security Wall through these rich lands.
As Abu Azzam guides us through his citrus groves and greenhouses filled with tomatoes, cucumbers,
and avocados, he can’t hide his pride and love for this land. But he will likely lose it all—the wall will
separate his farmland from his village and his home. The wall leaves him with two choices: stay in the
village and lose his land, or stay on his farm and live in a makeshift shelter in permanent isolation.
Background
In June of 2002 the construction of a +400-mile barrier began in the Occupied West Bank. Though it is
referred to as a “security fence” by Israel, its form changes along the route, and near large cities it is a
concrete wall twice as high as the Berlin Wall.
Construction began in the northwest part of the West Bank. With its large, unspoiled aquifer, this land
provides nearly 65% of the fruits and vegetables produced in the region. The wells along the aquifer
provide essential water for drinking, agriculture and sanitation. All of this prime land and its water supply
will fall on the Israeli side of the wall.
Director’s Biography
Nida Sinnokrot is a Palestinian-American artist and filmmaker. His film and video installations, and
sculptures often explore the complex political realities of Diaspora through a phenomenological
approach. After completing his undergraduate studies in Radio, Television, and Film at the University of
Texas at Austin, Nida moved to New York where he received an MFA in Film and Video from Bard
College. Nida attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program in 2001, is a
2002 Rockefeller Media Fellow, and was recently awarded a Paul Robeson media grant. PALESTINE
BLUES is Nida’s first film.
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Reviews
an affecting cri de coeur - The Chicago Reader
Palestine Blues is a vital corrective to omission-riddled mainstream media accounts, and a nice
illustration of why both the underground and the Underground remain relevant, even essential.
- The Village Voice
Key Personnel
Director – Nida Sinnokrot
Executive Producer – Andrew Mysko
Producers – Nida Sinnokrot, Athina Tsangari, Siobhan Walshe
Editors – Nida Sinnokrot, Athina Tsangari
Camera/Sound – Nida Sinnokrot
Co-Camera/Sound – Athina Tsangari, Jawad Metni
Sound Mix – Jeremy Fleishman
Technical Specifications
Original Language Title: Mawal Philistini
International Title: Palestine Blues
Original Format: Mini-DV shot with Sony VX 2000 and PD-150
Mater Formats: Beta SP NTSC and PAL Color
Aspect: 16/9
Editing: FCP 5.1, Apple G5, 10–Bit Uncompressed
Original Language: Arabic and English
Subtitle Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish
Sound: Stereo
Music: Muddy Waters, Blind Willie Johnson, DAM
Running Time: 72 min.
Year of Production: 2006
Contact
Nida Sinnokrot
Dulab Films Inc.
98 Graham Ave. #2
Brooklyn, New York 11206
USA
tel. 646-270-2648
[email protected]
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