MAKE A WISH (Itmanna)

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MAKE A WISH
(Itmanna)
MAKE A WISH
by the film-maker of Amreeka and May in the Summer
...reinforces the power of short films and the ability to
achieve cinematic greatness within the span of a few
minutes. (Film Threat)
Very moving and thought provoking. (The Austin Chronicle)
It is the natural, often charming, performances that give this
12-minute film its heart. (Eye for Eye Film)
CONTENT
A young Palestinian girl will do whatever it takes to buy a
birthday cake. Eleven year-old MARIAM begs her mother for
the extra money she needs to buy a cake at the local bakery.
Her mother begrudgingly relents, but when Mariam arrives
at the bakery, she realizes that she still doesn't have enough.
Determined to get the cake, she sets out to brave the
obstacles and land some cash. What begins as a simple trip
to the bakery turns into a journey that depicts not only the
subtle tensions of a politically charged environment, but also
illustrates the grief that can result from growing up under
occupation.
CREDITS
Cherien Dabis, Palestine 2006,
12 min, colour, 35mm, Arabic with English subtitles
Mariam Mayar Rantisse |Lama Lone Khilleh | Aida Iman
Aoun | Writer/Director/Producer Cherien Dabis |
Editor Cherien Dabis | Director of Photography Alison
Kelly | Music Kathryn Bostic | Production Designer
Cherien Dabis | Casting Director Iman Aoun
MAKE A WISH
FILM-MAKER
Film-maker Cherien Dabis
Cherien Dabis is an award winning film and television writer,
director, producer and actor who received her M.F.A in Film
from Columbia University. She began her career in television
when she joined the writing staff of Showtime’s
groundbreaking, original hit series THE L WORD in its third
season.
She wrote three episodes and was promoted from writer
(2005-2006) to story editor (2006-2007) and co-producer
(2007-2008) before going on to make her feature writing
and directorial debut with AMREEKA. AMREEKA worldpremiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, opened New
Director’s/New Films at the MoMA and won the coveted
International Federation of Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI) in
the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes.
It went on to win a dozen more international awards
including the Humanitas Prize and Adrienne Shelly
Excellence in Filmmaking Award and was nominated for a
Best Picture Gotham Award, 3 Independent Spirit Awards,
including Best Picture, Best First Screenplay and Best Actress
and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of
the Year by the National Board of Review.
Dabis was also named one of Variety’s “Ten Directors to
Watch” in 2009.
AMREEKA was released theatrically worldwide and became
the most-screened Arab-directed film in U.S.-cinema history,
peaking at 40 screens across most major American cities.
Dabis returned to Sundance with her second feature film
MAY IN THE SUMMER, which opened the 2013 Sundance
Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section and had its
international premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
In it, she makes her onscreen debut alongside Bill Pullman,
Alia Shawkat and Hiam Abbass. With the screenplay,
Dabis won a Sundance / Time Warner Storytelling Grant,
several Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art Grants as well
as the prestigious NHK International Filmmaker Award at the
2011 Sundance Film Festival.
Dabis is the recipient of dozens of grants and fellowships
including a Creative Capital Artist Grant (2015),
Guggenheim Fellowship (2012), USA Rockefeller Fellowship
(2010), Renew Media / Tribeca Film Institute Media Artist
Fellowship (2008) and New York Foundation for the Arts
Artist Fellowship in Playwriting/ Screenwriting (2007).
She is an alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab, Film
Independent Director’s Lab and Tribeca All Access, where
she was honored with the first ever L’Oréal Paris Woman of
Worth Vision Award. For her short film work, she has been
awarded generous grants from National Geographic, the
Jerome Foundation and the New York State Council on the
Arts.
She has been an advisor for the Sundance Screenwriter’s
Labs in both Turkey and Jordan and has taught in the
graduate film program at Columbia University as well as the
Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also recently starred in
VILLA TOUMA (2014), the directorial debut of critically
acclaimed Palestinian screenwriter Suha Arraf (Lemon Tree,
The Syrian Bride), which had its world-premiere at the 2014
Venice Film Festival and went on to premiere internationally
at the Toronto International Film Festival.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Make A Wish is an intimate personal journey that follows
Mariam on the day of her late father’s birthday. While the
film doesn’t definitively deal with how her father died,
political references throughout indicate that his death was
related to the political turmoil in the region. The film was
inspired by the idea of absence, specifically the many
Palestinian men who are absent from their families due to
imprisonment or death. And little is ever known about who
they were or what they left behind. I wanted to pay tribute
to the grief of the surviving loved ones. And I wanted to
portray that grief through the eyes of a child.
The film is shot semi-documentary style in order to capture
the realism of the Palestinian experience and to build a sense
of urgency. The stakes are high for Mariam. She must be able
to buy the cake before the end of the day, or it will be too
late. Mariam’s desperation is telegraphed through long lenses
so that the audience is immersed in her point-of-view. The
audience sees the world through her selective eyes. The
eyes of a grieving child with but one thing on her mind:
buying her father’s favorite cake in order to celebrate his life
and honor his memory. The tone of the film is one of a
drama with a light touch. Moments of candid humor shine
through to ease the tension of Mariam’s journey.
Thematically, Make A Wish explores the devastating impact
of political conflict and war: love, loss and grief on a deep,
personal level. It offers a glimpse into a family working
through expressions of grief, each member dealing with it in
a vastly different manner. The film is both a celebration of
life and a work of mourning.
FILMOGRAPHY
Amreeka, 2009, abendfüllend
Itmanna (Make A Wish), 2006, 12 min
Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother, 2004, 18 min
Little Black Boot (als Autorin), 2003, 16 min
Nadah (als Autorin), 2003, 15 min
The L Word (als Co-Produzentin, Showtime Networks),
2005-2007
AWARDS
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival - Prix de la Presse &
Mention Spéciale du Jury
Aspen Shortsfest - Special Jury Award & BAFTA Award for
Excellence
Dubai International Film Festival - Gold Muhr Award for Best
Short Film
Cairo International Film Festival for Children - Ministry of
Cultureﾒs Golden Prize for Best Short Film & Bronze Cairo
for Best Short Film
Arab Film Festival Rotterdam - Silver Hawk Award for Best
Short Film
Big Bear Lake International Film Festival - Jury Award, Best
Family Film
Chicago International Children's Film Festival - Liv Ullmann
Peace Prize & Certificate of Excellence
FESTIVALS
Clermont-Ferrand Kurzfilm Festival, Frankreich 2007
Dubai International Film Festival, UAE 2006
Berlinale, BRD 2007
Sundance Film Festival, USA 2007
South by Southwest Film Festival, 2007
Newport Beach Film Festival, USA 2007
Aspen Shortsfest, USA 2007
Indianapolis International Film Festival, USA 2007
Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Ägypten 2007
Chicago Palestine Film Festival, USA 2007
London Palestine Film Festival, UK 2007
Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'iya Film Festival, Libanon 2006
Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, USA 2006
Houston Palestine Film Festival, USA 2007
Nantucket Film Festival, USA 2007
Festival Almería en Corto, 2007
Screen Door Film, 2007
Outfest, 2007
Canadian Film Center’s World Wide Short Film Festival,
Canada 2007
Arab Film Festival Rotterdam, Niederlande 2007
Provincetown Film Festival, USA 2007
Capalbio Cinema International Short Film Festival, 2007
Melbourne International Film Festival, Australien 2007
Mediterranean Short Film Festival of Tangier, Marokko 2007
Jordan Short Film Festival, Jordanien 2007
Chicago International Children's Film Festival, USA 2007
Edinburgh International Film Festival, Schottland 2007
Hawaii International Film Festival, USA 2007
International Arab Film Festival, 2007
Court, c'est Court, Frankreich 2007
Independent Producer’s International Film Festival, Rumänien
2007
Tabor Film Festival, Kroatien 2007
Anonimul International Film Festival, Rumänien 2007
International Short Festival in Drama, Griechenland 2007
Cinematographic Framework of Hergia, Tunesien 2007
Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brasilien2007
Planet in Focus, 2007
Big Bear Lake Film Festival, USA 2007
Seattle 1 Reel Film Festival, USA 2007
Lucas International Children’s Film Festival, BRD 2007
Boston Palestine Film Festival, USA 2007
Ismailia International Festival for Documentary & Short Film,
Ägypten 2007
Lola Kenya Screen Film Festival for Children, 2007
Asiana International Short Film Festival, Süd Korea 2007
Festival International Cinéma Méditerranéen, Frankreich
2007
CinemaEast Film Festival, USA 2007
West County Film Festival, USA 2007
Arab Film Festival Brussels, Belgien 2007
International Short Film Festival Interfilm Berlin, 2007
Fusion, 2007
Rio De Janeiro Short Film Festival, Brasilien 2007
Shashat Women’s Film Festival, Palästina 2007
Olympia International Film Festival for Children & Young
People, 2007
Fribourg International Film Festival, Schweiz 2008
Flickerfest, 2008
Tampere Film Festival, Finland 2008
Birds Eye View, UK 2008
30ème Festival International de Films de Femmes, Frankreich
2008
Amnesty International Filmfestival, Amsterdam 2008
Napoli Film Festival, Italien 2008
Buster - Copenhagen Children's Film Festival, Dänemark
2008
Amal Film Festival, Spanien, 2008
PRODUCTION
ANECDOTES
When I traveled to the Middle East in October of 2005 to
shoot the film, I hadn’t been back to Palestine in twenty
years. It took me twelve hours to travel 55 miles from
Amman, Jordan to Ramallah. I was detained and interrogated
by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Border Crossing.
The film was shot entirely in occupied territory using nonactors and working with a very small crew. While I flew in
American cinematographer Alison Kelly, the rest of the crew
was Palestinian. Though we shot on mini-DV, we rented the
mini-pro 35 in order to attach 35mm prime lenses to the
camera. We didn’t realize that finding a Palestinian focus
puller would be nearly impossible. There is one. And he was
booked. We would have hired an Israeli but Israelis aren’t
allowed to travel into occupied territory. So we hired a
Palestinian cameraman and trained him.
The scene where Mariam sells gum on the street corner was
shot totally documentary style. Whenever the traffic light
turned red, we ran out to the cars stopped at the
intersection, told the passengers VERY briefly what we were
doing and what we wanted from them and then rolled
camera. We had less than one minute to do all of that so we
were lucky if we got one take per red light. Unfortunately I
was never able to get the names of those “actors” in order
to give them credit or thank them.
On the third day, several Palestinian police officers asked us
to stop shooting and leave the area immediately because
they were fighting with Palestinian security forces and gunfire
threatened to ensue. Luckily, it never did.
My American Cinematographer was not only strip-searched
at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on her way back to the
U.S., she was also escorted to the plane.
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