Arna's Children

Dir: Juliano Mer Khamis & Danniel Danniel Israel 2003

Juliano Mer Khamis's mother was Arna (Jewish) Zionist family. His father was a Palestinian. Arna opened a theatre group for Palestinian children from Jenin, to help them express their everyday frustrations, anger, bitterness and fear. When the Israeli army occupied the city, the theatre workshops came to an end. Seven years later, immediately after the battle of Jenin, Mer Khamis returned to find out what happened to the children he had known in the theatre group. Shifting back and forth in time, Mer Khamis' award-winning film reveals life on the battlefield for these Palestinians trapped by circumstance in the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

+ Planet of the Arabs

Dir: Jacqueline Salloum USA 2003 9mins Based on the book Reel Bad Arabs by Jack Shaheen, Planet of the Arabs is an experimental short illustrating Hollywood's relentless vilification and dehumanisation of Arabs and Muslims.

Hopefully for the Best

Dir: Raed Helou Palestine 2004 42mins Arabic with subtitles Director Raed Helou describes Ramallah during the tense winter before the US invasion of Iraq as "calm, like snow on graves, and angry as an old woman who has lost everything." The curious monotony of life during an uprising is the subject of the peripatetic camera that roams the rain-slashed streets of Ramallah. In brief encounters with Ramallah's street sweepers, bakers and hummus makers, anxiety simmers below the surface, but everyone seeks a bit of "normal" life, before political realities take hold of the day. This screening will be followed by a post-film discussion chaired by Birmingham-Ramallah Twinning Committee, focussing on the issues that the film raises. All welcome.

In the 9th Month

Dir: Ali Nasser Israel 2003 1hr 46mins Arabic with subtitles Cast: Nisreen Faour, Ashraf Barhum, Juliano Khamees, Wisam Nassar, Mahmoud Abu-Jazi A folk legend that spread through the Arab villages during the days of Ottoman rule tells of a mysterious old man who steals naughty children. Ahmad, with his strange manners and black dress, is suspected of being the kidnapper. Yet, there is good reason for his behaviour - his brother Khalil, a refugee from Lebanon, has just snuck into the village... Special Jury Award - Jerusalem Film Festival

Ford Transit

Dir: Hany Abu-Assad Palestine/Israel 2002 1hr 20mins Arabic/English/ Hebrew with subtitles Hany Abu-Assad's film is a multifaceted portrait of the occupied territories as viewed from the rear seat of a local taxi. Rajai operates a Ford Transit bus, the most popular means of transport in the region, ferrying Palestinians between checkpoints, since driving through them has become prohibitively slow. His passengers range from poor old women to lawyers, waiters, prominent Palestinian political figures like Hanan Ashrawi and Azmi Bishara, etc. Frustrations boil over in Rajai's back seat, with Arafat as much as Sharon, but so does a desire for peace, tempered by anger.