BRATTLEBORO-The second annual Palestine Film Series opens Sunday, March 23, with the Oscar-winning No Other Land, which event organizers describe as "a devastating window on the continuing Israeli settler violence, land theft, and forced displacement of Palestinians from their West Bank villages."
No Other Land is one of four films in this year's series that give audiences an opportunity to experience diverse stories about the lives of Palestinian people. The series is presented by Southern Vermont for Palestine and Latchis Arts.
[A review by Steve Minkin and Arlene Distler supplied by Southern Vermont for Palestine appears in this issue.]
Although it has won more than 45 top documentary prizes worldwide including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, No Other Land has struggled to find a U.S. distributor and has been screened in only a handful of U.S. cities.
In an interview with IndieWire, Palestinian co-director Basel Adra stressed the need for a broader release in the U.S. "I still believe that if there will be a change, it must come from [the U.S.], from this power," he said. "We really want people to see what their money is doing to us."
In a news release, film series coordinator Shana Frank wrote, "Southern Vermont for Palestine understands the vital importance of making the stories of Palestinians accessible to as many people as possible, especially now."
Frank said that the goal is "to bring these critically acclaimed films to those in our region who want to learn more about Palestinian people and their lives."
Other feature-length films in the series include an Oscar-shortlisted documentary created by filmmakers in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war and a feature film by Oscar-nominated director Farah Nabulsi.
The Palestine Film Series runs on four consecutive Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Latchis Theater. Admission is by donation. Audience members are welcome to stay after the films for facilitated conversations.
Following are descriptions of the three other films as provided by Southern Vermont for Palestine:
• From Ground Zero (2024), March 30: Oscar-shortlisted for best international feature film, this collection of 22 short films (3–7 minutes each) made by Palestinian filmmakers in Gaza portrays the steadfastness of the human spirit and the will to live in a time of peril and devastation. The composite film presents a mix of genres: documentary, fiction based on true stories, animation, and experimental video art.
• Walled Off: View from Banksy's Walled Off Hotel (2023), April 6: Produced by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and Nelson Mandela's grandson, Kweku Mandela, among others. Banksy's Walled Off Hotel, an art gallery and history museum in Bethlehem overlooking the wall separating Israel and Palestine, serves as an anchor for this eclectic documentary, which spotlights "the creative ways that the Palestinian people and their supporters have been using the arts and other means of nonviolent protest to resist occupation," writes journalist Kimberly Lindbergs of Cinebeats.
• The Teacher (2023), April 13: A film by Oscar-nominated director Farah Nabulsi, is the story of a Palestinian teacher grieving the loss of his teenage son and struggling to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with his support for two students. Meanwhile, an American couple begs for the return of their son who was kidnapped while serving in the Israeli military.
No Other Land will also be screened at the Latchis for a full week starting Friday, March 21.. Times were unavailable at press time.
Southern Vermont for Palestine describes itself as "a grassroots group of volunteers working locally to educate the public about Palestinian freedom," and it is a part of the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation, "a statewide collective of organizations and individuals supporting justice in Palestine."
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