Event Details

Date/Time: 

Sep 30 2009 5:00pm - 10:00pm

Price: 

Advance tickets, $15 non-members ($10 WIF members); at the door tickets, $17 ($12 members)

Where: 

Mount St. Mary's College
12001 Chalon Rd
Los Angeles CA 90049

Women in Film 3rd Annual Short Film SeriesPalestinian & Israeli Film/Culture

Through a diverse program of short films, art, poetry, comedy and more, this year's series will celebrate and support the creative talents of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers. Every filmmaker has a unique perspective on their culture and their world. The films selected both narrative and documentary, will provide views into the psyche of these communities and deepen our understanding of Palestinian and Israeli life, lands, and cultures.

The short films shown at this special event are the apex of an entire evening of artistic expression.

While tasting the culinary delights of both Palestinians and Israelis, the audience will enjoy a display of fine art: paintings and photographs. Entertainment will include Palestinian and Israeli dance and music that will express the vibrant and artistic beauty of these two diverse cultures.

For info/tix click here.

Updated Schedule of Participants

ART EXHIBIT

Hanna Farah-Kufer Bir'im (b. 1960, Algish Village, Galilee) is a Palestinian artist, architect, and independent designer who has taken the name of the village his family was forced from in 1948.

Lidia Shaddow (b.1957 Israeli) has been showing continuously since 1998 in art shows from Los Angeles to New York. Her work has been commissioned by collectors and corporations and she has received many awards and fellowships over the years.

Atsmon Ganor (b. 1960 in Haifa) Is a highly recognizable artist whose works deal with the laws of the state and repressed desires at the intersection of the body (personal) and the government (public).

Moshe Castel (1909-1992, b. Jerusalem) was a major early figure in Israeli art who spent much time in France with School of Paris artists like Chagall, Soutine and Modigliani.

Isam Bader (b. 1948 in Hebron) is a Palestinian ceramic artist who graduated from the Baghdad Fine Arts Academy and the Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts in Georgia. He founded Gallery 79 in Ramallah which was a center of Palestinian art in the 80s, but was shut down by the Israeli military authority.

David Reeb (b. 1952, Rehovot)) is one of Israel's most important artists. His paintings range from humorous domestic interiors to abstract images with or without word messages.

Yael Robin (b. 1960?) is primarily a sculptor whose most recent project is Umm al-Fahm. The project paired Robin with artist Hanan Abu Hussein, creating sculptures of windows which were brought to a park in the Israeli Arab village of Umm al-Fahm.

Farideh (b. 1942 in Tehran, Iran) is a Persian Israeli whose works have been exhibited extensively in the U.S., Europe and Israel.

Samy Briss (b. 1930 in Jassy, Rumania) is one of Israel's most beloved artists. He works on the universal theme of family: lovers, sisters, mothers and children and the home.

Michal Rovner (b. Tel Aviv, 1957) is arguably the most important Israeli artist of the past two decades. She co-founded Camera Obscura, the first photography school in Tel Aviv.

Filmmakers

Palestinian and Israeli Short Films Presented

A Boy a Wall and a Donkey, Hany Abu Assad, 2008 4:35 Fiction US Premier

Three Palestinian boys attempt to record themselves using available technology. Their youthful innocence exposes the preconceptions of modern life and creates ever greater misunderstandings.

Desert Trains, Boaz Armoni, 2008 25:00 Fiction

Shuli lives in a God-forsaken desert town and works in a spring factory. Meantime dreams of life in another place. Eli, the local macho, tries to win her heart, by bringing her a foreign worker as a present. An unexpected twist in the relationships and Shuli might see her dreams come true.

 

Listen to This, Itay Sasson, Jennifer Sarkar, Gilli Tohar, Mirna Yacoub Abu Abara 2008 Peace It Together 2:14 Fiction

Two musicians living on either side of a wall compete to see whose music can be the loudest. When the noise breaks the wall between them they realize that by playing together they can make something beautiful.

The Shooter, Ilhab Jadalla, 2008 6:54 US Premier Fiction

Palestine is occupied by the international media. It is being staged by the international media for sensational newscasts and Palestinians have become "performers" of dramatic international evening newscasts.
The Shooter questions the Palestinian resistance struggle and its decadence, reaching the point of the actual chaos and lack of control.

Looking Awry, Sobhi Al-Zobaidi, 2001 29:00 Docudrama

A Palestinian filmmaker is commissioned by an American organization to make a documentary film depicting Jerusalem as a city of peace and coexistence between Jews and Arabs. Reality paints a different picture.

Inspired, Aya Abu Hamdieh, Omar Chu, Mohmoud Jabari, Ofek Ravid 2008Peace It Together 10:31 Fiction

Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian children discuss the inspiration they found in each other during the Peace It Together summer program.

Elyokim, Einat Kapach, 2002 Drama 30:00

Elyokim, a ultra-orthodox and brilliant talmudic student is in love the Rachel, the Rabbi's daughter. The social conventions which govern Elyokim's world means he will never be formally introduced to Rachel. Elyokim takes matters in his own hands...

The Red Toy, Dani Rosenberg, 2004 12:00 Fiction

Mohamad, a Palestinian child from the old city of Jerusalem, finds a red toy and misplaces it. The toy wanders around the alleys of the icy, handed from one person to another - between rulers and subjects, strangers and locals...while the police surveillance cameras watch from above.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

Co-Master of Ceremonies, Comedian Elham Jazab: Her comedy explores issues that are current and controversial, including the unusual nature of transplanted culture. With rave reviews on the street, Elham has been called "outrageous," "hilarious" and "the world's funniest female Persian comic."

With a degree in theatre and film from Northwestern University, and a Masters from Columbia College, she is well equipped to see the funny side of most any situation. She recently appeared in Cornerstone Theatre's highly acclaimed "A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters," and can be seen in local clubs dispensing her sly blend of cross-cultural humor.

C0-Master of Ceremonies/Comedian Noel Elgrably grew up in the nation's capital but left his day-job selling insurance to pursue his calling as a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles. The son of a French-Moroccan father and Moroccan-Israeli mother, he offers an original comedic perspective on growing up as a child of Middle Eastern immigrants chasing the American dream below the Mason-Dixon line. His irreverent and ornery style of comedy reminds us that even though we think we're different we're all the same when we're laughing at ourselves.

Noel's can be seen performing regularly at Los Angeles area comedy clubs such as The World Famous Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, The Improv, and The Icehouse. He recently appeared in the 2008 New York CITY Arab-American Comedy Festival, performed with the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, is a regular cast member of The Sultans of Satire: Middle East Comic Relief Show (now at the Improv in Los Angeles), and has appeared on Fox TV. He has trained as a dramatic actor and was featured in the indie feature, "Clean," and the short, "Gone Too Far." He has trained as a dramatic actor and was featured in the indie film Clean and the short Gone Too Far.

YA M.E.L.A. DANCE COMPANY Arab Troupe: Stephanie Sullivan is the founder of Ya M.E.L.A. Dance Company and now shares directorship with Marcos Ferrando, a fabulous Dabke dancer and choreographer in his own right from Los Angeles.

THE LOS ANGELES ISRAELI DANCE COMPANY, under the direction of David Dassa and innovative choreographer Roni Kosmal, is the only youth Israeli dance company in the Los Angeles area. This is a group that brings together young dancers from all over the city with the sole purpose of providing an outlet of Jewish expression through love of Israeli culture and dance. The Company, founded in 2004 by David Dassa with the support of Milken Community High School, includes students from Milken Community Middle and High Schools, as well as other private and public schools. The Company has performed internationally and throughout the United States, and has already risen to be one of the premiere dance companies in the United States.

Ahmed El-Asmer Bio: Extraordinary vocalist specializing in motion picture industry and other studio recordings. Ahmed specializes in soundtrack recordings for feature films, and documentaries including: Passion of the Christ, The Matrix - Reloaded, West Bank Story, The Crow - City of Angels, The Siege and others. Solo performances at the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre are among just a few of his accomplishments. He has performed live concerts throughout the United States and the world. Ahmed sings a wide variety of languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic and English.

Poet Carine Topal writes and teaches in Los Angeles. After graduating from college, she moved to Jerusalem, Israel, where she worked with Palestinian merchants, traveling to villages and towns in the West Bank and Bethlehem. After returning to the States and earning a Master's Degree from NY U, she moved to Southern California. Since 1982, she has anthologized the poetry of special needs children. She was the Poet-in-Residence for the city of Manhattan Beach and Poet-in-Education for Manhattan Beach elementary schools. In 1994, her first collection of poetry, God As Thief, was published by The Amagansett Press. In 2004, she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and in 2005, awarded a residency at Hedgebrook, as well as a fellowship in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is the recipient of numerous poetry awards, including the Jane Kenyon Poetry Prize, and most recently, the 2007 Robert G. Cohn Prose Poetry Award from California Arts and Letters. A special edition chapbook, Bed of Want, was recently published by Black Zinnias. Her new collection of poetry, In the Heaven of Never Before, was published in December 2008, by Moon Tide Press. Carine won the Cultural Arts Commission 2008 Excellence in Arts Award from the City of Torrance.