Ithaca College's first annual Palestinian Environmental Film Festival presents “An Occupied Childhood” on March 26, 2012 in Williams 225. At 5pm, Dispatches: Children of Gaza will be will be screened. Dispatches focuses on the lives of a small group of children living in Gaza and illustrates the implications of Israel’s occupation of Palestine on its youngest population. Many of the children have lost their parents, family members, and friends to fatal air raids. The film shows how these children have struggled physically and psychologically with the militarization of their home.
Following Dispatches, at 7pm, ethnographers, Michael Kennedy and Menna Khalil will be presenting their documentation of the impact of the murders of the Palestinian youths in the West Bank village of Iraq Burin. Michael, a professional photographer and PhD student at Columbia University, has documented the village’s response to the killings with photographs and film. Menna conducted extensive interviews with the village leaders and families.
The following day Gaza’s Winter will be screened during the noon hour in Friends 308. Produced by Najwa Najjar, Gaza’s Winter is a collection of 12 short films made by filmmakers around the world. Following the 2008 bombardment of Gaza (Occupation Cast Lead), a group of filmmakers came together to document the devastation.
Later that night at 7pm, in Textor 102, Gaza-strophe, a full length documentary about Gaza will be shown. Entering Gaza after the ceasefire was declared, December 2008, Samir Abdallah documents the stories of those who were affected by the war. With help from the Palestinian Human Rights Centre, Abdallah captured the determination of the Gazans.
On Wednesday at 4pm in Ithaca Falls Meeting Room, PEFF presents Jordan Valley Blues. A LifeSource film, Jordan Valley Blues, documents the lives and losses of the Palestinian famers in the Jordan Valley, where they are forced to abandon their land due to water shortages and abuses by the Israeli military. Following the film there will be a short presentation by Rebecca Cutter, M.A. Sustainable Development and a Q&A with two workers, Hamza Zubeidat and Christopher Whitman, from the MA’AN Development Center, which focuses on empowerment women and youth.
For a full schedule of upcoming events please go to icpeff.weebly.com.
Special thanks to FLEFF, the Ithaca College library, the School of Humanities and Sciences, Students for Justice in Palestine, Park Center for Independent Media, the Politics Department, and students of the class, “Seeking Sustainable Relationship Under War and Occupation.”
This event is open to the public. For further information please email icpeff@gmail.com. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Samantha Lowe at slowe1@ithaca.edu. Please make requests for accommodations as far in advance as possible.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20120325193140116