Levantine Newsletter

Heaven Sent?
Paradise Now, a film by Hany Abu-Assad
goes into limited release October 28 (Warner Independent Pictures).Read a Reuters interview with Abu-Assad by Anne Thompson.

Reviewed by May Alhassen

"Paradise Now" is a film that humanizes Palestinian suicide bombers. You can imagine the possible alarmist criticisms:
"An unfair, unbalanced portrait that doesn't give attention to the other side."
"A limited, stereotypical presentation of consistently culturally and historically maligned group of people."
"Negative images."
"Justifies suicide bombing."
"Why must Arabs be consistently cinematically portrayed as suicide bombers?"

These of course are comments I could easily envision coming from closed-minded individuals who have either not seen the movie, relied on second-hand accounts or on reviews; or who, if they did see the movie, consciously turned off their mind and muted their heart before going into the theatre. Because "Paradise Now" is not a film that someone passively sees or hears about; rather, it is one that you must experience to fully understand and appreciate.

Written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad with a predominantly Arab cast, "Paradise Now" follows the lives of two childhood friends from the West Bank, Said and Khaled, in the 48 hours leading up to a planned suicide bomb attack in Israel. The serpentine twists of suspense and the characters' constantly examined and re-examined religious, ethical, and moral decisions keep the audience glued to the film.

To describe the emotional viewing process as painful is an understatement. Tragedy and absurd comedy are naturally woven together in the telling of this sensitive subject matter. "Paradise Now" is a heart-wrenching tale of hopeless young males that seeks to elucidate the martyrdom phenomenon through an exploration the psychology of the oppressed. Said and Khaled, 20-something wretches of the West Bank, are not ones to be cast as Terrorist #2 or Gas Station Attendant in the rolling credits; they are too vibrantly full of life, thought, and heart to fit the one-dimensional Western-imported boxes into which American cinema commonly drops Arab males.

In easily the film’s standout performance, Kais Nashef, who plays the character of Said, skillfully uses his hauntingly expressive eyes to trap us into his soul where we absorb the pain of his routine existence in the dismal slums of Nablus. The ability to ensnare the viewer into his inner conflicts and have us comprehend how those demons can sometimes win out is a testament to Nashef's brilliant acting.

Meanwhile, one of the few females in the movie, Suha, the daughter of a Palestinian legend played by Belgium actress Lubna Azabal, is a living embodiment of an indictment of Western assumptions of a covered, submissive Middle Eastern woman. She is independent, opinionated, brave, principled, and does not sheepishly hide behind a hijab as she stridently attacks Said and Khaled’s vociferous ideological leanings.

The film at its most academic level is an interesting analytical study of the psychology of the oppressed—one of Frantz Fanonian proportions. The prime suspect under investigation is the emasculated/absent male. The West Bank is a territory riddled with a mass extermination of a sense of manhood. Decapitation of traditionally patriarchal households through executions, injuries, unemployment or martyrdom translates into a loss of respect and reverence for the Palestinian male. Like Said, many 20-something males have had to step in and fill the absence left by their fathers. However, with limited job opportunities and even more limited access to areas with gainful employment, martyrdom functions as an escape from confronting the meaningless, emasculated, and futile existence of a West Bank male and instills a twisted sense of manhood and purpose in a purposeless life.

Very powerfully, the film's proverbial crane and skilled wrecking crew inwardly bash propagandistic media judgments about Palestinian Muslim males by revealing that the choice to become a suicide bomber is ultimately, more often than not, mutually exclusive from religious reasoning. Both Said's and Khaled's timely eleventh-hour choices and behavioral defenses stand as evidentiary support of this claim. The critical analysis of such a perplexingly complex and commonly misconstrued situation exposes faulty foundations in the architecture of stereotyped, propagandist arguments villainizing Islam. “Paradise Now” cogently criticizes the moral and intellectual justifications for suicide bomb operations, while at the same time contextualizing the appeal of martyrdom as a career choice; the backdrop of a tragically oblique and lackluster setting, the land of impoverished Occupied Territories, helps to counter the viewer’s incomprehension of why anyone would want to blow themselves up. This is a cinematic portrait that does not seek to take you into the mind of a terrorist so much as into the mind of an oppressed and self-aware existential man, one who has the will to choose, yet is constantly made cognizant of the limited choices his environment offers.

“Paradise Now” is a testament to the power of filmmaking. It has complex characters, a gripping storyline, witty dialogue and a soulful score. Its bizarre humor, heart-pounding suspense and innovative camera angles are also to director Abu-Assad's credit. The film does not dumb down the complexity of borders and identity. "Is that Israel?" my friend—a self-confessed neophyte of Israeli-Palestinian issues—shockingly blurted out as she observed the stark differences between Tel Aviv and the West Bank in the movie's final scene. Cosmopolitan Western-styled high rises crowd the skylines; postcard-worthy snapshots of bikini-clad beachgoers on Israel's famous beach promenades and streets alive and bustling with action and purpose contrast with the lifeless alleyways, abandoned streets, and decaying edifices that visually define the despair of living in the West Bank.

These juxtaposed images of thriving prosperity and abject poverty help to illustrate the dichotomous living conditions and life chances presented to geographic neighbors, Israelis and Palestinians, separated by checkpoints.

Beyond the superb acting and spellbinding narrative, the movie's greatest achievement is its ability to humanize a regularly denigrated people while at the same time universalizing their plight. Characters with names, background, stories, love interests, struggles, inner conflicts, demons, desires, and hopes are more relatable than statistics, and remind us the viewers that we share a common humanity.

May Alhassen is a recent graduate in Political Science and Arabic and Islamic Studies from UCLA. She is currently focused on completing grad school applications and conducting interviews for an untitled book concerning Malcolm X's influence on politicizing hip-hop.

October Events

Oct. 1 (Sat), 8 pm—WEHDA WORLD MUSIC Arab American Unity Concert, World Festival of Sacred Music

Kan Zaman Takht Ensemble (Arabic) & Salaam Suite (USA) directed by Wael Kakish & Paul Livingstone with additional artistic collaboration by Naila Azad, Nakeiltha (Nikki) Campbell, Dr. Oop & Kmillion, Peter Jacobson, Alfred Madain, Johanna Moore, Houman Pourmehdi, Gisa Vatcky & Faisal Zedan.

The event will feature a world premiere performance of 'Al Takween' for western/middle eastern chamber ensemble & the Salaam Suite cd release by Paul Livingstone featuring members of Ozomatli, Quetzal & Kan Zaman Ensemble. Performances from traditional Muwashshahat (sacred sung poetry developed in 8th and 9th century Arab Spain) to contemporary multi-lingual songs & improvisations crafted with infusions of Indian, Latin, Hip Hop, reggae & rock musical styles celebrate our common aspirations for justice, unity & the sanctity of human life.

Wehda is an Arabic word meaning unity, to become one. Kan Zaman Takht Ensemble and Salaam Suite perform traditional and creative world music with a diverse cadre of Arab and American artists encompassing classical, folk and popular styles led by Wael Kakish and Paul Livingstone. Performances from traditional Muwashshahat (sacred sung poetry developed in 8th and 9th century Arab Spain) to contemporary multi-lingual songs and improvisations crafted with infusions of Indian, Latin and popular music styles celebrate our common aspirations for peace and unity.

With the intention to help empower individuals to educate others to transcend stereotypes and intolerance, a dialogue—Islam, Christianity & Judaism: Promoting a Culture of Peace—will be held on Friday, September 30 at 12.30pm at Occidental College's Herrick Chapel with clergy, artists and the community exploring the religious foundations of peace and world justice.

This event is an expression of hope and faith that peace is within reach. Presented by Occidental College and Sangeet School of World Music.

Venue: Thorne Hall, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041. Tix: $15; $5 students. Ticket info: 323.258-1424 -or- www.inhouseticketing.com.

Through Oct. 16—Heather Raffo's "9 Parts of Desire" at the Geffen Playhouse

Los Angeles Premiere of the one-woman show about Iraq, written and performed by Heather Raffo. Two segments of the play were originally presented by Levantine Cultural Center in December 2001 under the guise of the Millenium Project. Raffo went on to perform the play in London and Edinburgh before landing an off-Broadway run last year that received accolades across the board. Read our page about the New York run.

It is "a work so compassionate, so heart-breaking, so soul-shatteringly human, that it promises to change forever the way you’ll think about the women (indeed the people) of the Middle East." Heather Raffo, an Iraqi-American journalist, playwright, and performer, has captured the psychic lives of nine Iraqi women brutalized by the Saddam regime. She will take your breath away, as she has done for audiences in London and New York. Nine Parts of Desire is a very special Los Angeles theater event.

"A Triumph! Thrilling! An example of how art can remake the world!" -John Lahr, New Yorker

Buy tix online here. At the Geffen's Brentwood Theater. Click here for address/directions.

VIP PACKAGES AVAILABLE! This package is the ideal solution for "date night" a special event or the total theater going experience. Get the best seat in the house, dinner at Westwood's Palomino Restaurant, Rotisseria & Bar and parking all for one low price of $145.00/person. Seating is limited so call 310.208.6500 Ext. 142, or click here to take advantage of this offer and reserve the hottest theater seat in LA.

Oct. 14 (Fri), 8:00 pm—Graphic Novelist Marjane Satrapi at Royce Hall

Drawing comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus, Marjane Satrapi's critically acclaimed, eloquent black-and white graphic novels Persepolis (vols. 1 and 2) are wise, funny and heartbreaking memoirs of growing up during and after the Islamic Revolution. Her charming follow-up Embroideries explores the lives of Iranian women, young and old. Heartbreaking and hilarious, "Satrapi's tales are riveting and revealing ... providing readers with a rare perspective: a picture of life in a country most American's know very little, and a viewpoint of the world we almost never see" [Seattle Weekly]. "You’ve never seen anything like Persepolis — Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre."
— Gloria Steinem

Presented by UCLA Live. Tickets: $30, $25, $18, UCLA students $12. Call 310.825.2101 or click here. Levantine Cultural Center member save 15%. Use code SAT15.

Oct. 18 (Tues.), 7:30 pm—International Chess Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade Presents Her Book Chess Bitch and Plays 10 Audience Members at Levantine Center

"'Tis all a checkerboard of nights & days/Which Fate, with men for pieces plays..." —Omar Khayyam

At age 24, Lebanese American Jennifer Shahade is already an international chess icon. She is the two-time winner of the American Women’s Championship (2202, 2004) and has represented the U.S. in international competitions throughout the world, including Russia, China, Spain, India, Eastern Europe and Brazil.

A native of Philadelphia and resident of Brooklyn, Shahade is a women’s chess grandmaster and 2002 graduate of New York University, where she earned a degree in comparative literature and was editor of the literary magazine Brio.

When Jennifer isn’t traveling the world competing in women’s and men’s tournaments and championship competitions, she is involved with the nonprofit Chess-In-The-Schools program in New York City, where she coaches inner city youths, including the three-time National Junior High School Championship team, I.S. 318.

Free Admission. Cash bar. The author will read from and sign her book, following an introduction by international master Anthony Saidy, author of The World of Chess. The first 10 purchasers of her book who wish to play Jennifer will get their chance—simultaneously! Levantine Cultural Center, 5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City 90232 (closest major cross-streets are La Cienega and Washington Blvds.). Info: 310.559.5544.

Oct. 20 (Thurs), 7:30 pm—Visiting Moroccan writer Laila Lalami Presents Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits at Beyond Baroque

"Ambitious debut about a group of young Moroccans looking for jobs and a better life." —Kirkus Reviews

Laila Lalami was born in Rabat and educated in Morocco, Britain, and the United States. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Mizna, The Baltimore Review, First Intensity, The Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles Review, The Oregonian, The Independent, The Nation, and will soon be anthologized. Her debut book of fiction, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, has just been published by Algonquin Books. She is also the editor of the literary blog Moorishgirl.com. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

From Laila about the writing of her book:

The news was relegated to the bottom of Le Monde’s online page—fifteen Moroccan immigrants had drowned while crossing the Straits of Gibraltar on a fishing boat. They had left Tangier on a summer night, trying to navigate the short distance—only ten miles—that separates their homeland from Spain, and from the rest of Europe, where they hoped to make a new life for themselves. The boat was overloaded and ill equipped to handle the strong Mediterranean currents, and it capsized a couple of miles away from the coast. There were no survivors.

I read the article from my desk, in Los Angeles, where I was working as a computational linguist. By then, I had been living in America for eight years and I was always hungry for news about Morocco. I thought at first that the disaster was an isolated incident, a blip, a bizarre turn of events. Over time, however, the incidents seemed to multiply. Nearly every week in the summer of 2001 there was a report about arrests by the coast guards on either side of the Mediterranean. Read more...

Copresented by Levantine Cultural Center and Beyond Baroque, at Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice 90291. 3/4 of a mile west of Lincoln. Street parking. Copies of the book will be available and will be signed by the author. Light refreshments. Suggested donation $10/$7 members. Info: 310.559.5544 or 310.822.3006.

Read Kirkus review.

For more October events, visit our Calendar.


Levantine Cultural Center Newsletter • October 2005 • levantinecenter.org • 310.559.5544 • Join Now