Palestine on the Screen

Palestinian Struggle and Human Spirit Film festival

Palestinian Struggle and Human Spirit Film festival was the first festival of its kind to be held in South Africa.

Though rammed by technical hassles and clashes with the Voice of the Cape Fair affecting crowd attendance, organizers say that around 3000 people attended the three-day festival which included a vast variety of documentaries, panel-discussions, photo exhibits, and tree planting amongst other activities in an event totally dedicated to creating more awareness about the Palestinian cause.

Khalil Amod, CEO of Channel 4, said that the intention of the festival was to bring the Palestinian struggle into the collective consciousness.

"It was our intention to create an ongoing coverage/awareness that atrocities are happening every day; and not when the media decides to cover it," said Amod.

The event was meant to start off with a pre-festival gala dinner on October 1st, but this was subsequently cancelled when Cynthia McKinney was denied entry for her flight from the United States to South Africa.

However, McKinney eventually arrived and the festival started emphatically on October 2nd with a rousing performance by the inter-faith band Desert Rose, followed by the premiere of the short documentary, Operation Small Axe. Over the weekend, there were three other premieres, including Coca Cola: is Not the Real Thing and thirteen other international documentaries, including Jerusalem: East Side Story and To Gaza with Love.
 
But it was really the inspirational lectures by McKinney and Arraf that set the pace for the robust dialogue on the crisis in Palestine which followed over the weekend.

McKinney drew links between the civil rights movement and continual struggle for justice and equality in the United States with the struggle of the Palestinian people that has continued for over six decades. Arraf on the other hand spoke about her resilient work with the ISM and her belief in a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
 

Over the next two days, the Joseph Stone auditorium became a site of contestation, debate and discussion.

There was barbed wire, sand bags and boys and girls bearing toy guns and fake Israeli army uniform forcing guests to assemble in a queue, profiling visitors, frisking some randomly and generally creating a nuisance of themselves at their entrance to the auditorium.

Inside the main auditorium, grey sheets hung from the walls, doubling as the infamous wall now built in Israel, with random graffiti lining the sheets in an attempt to replicate and build an authentic as possible ambience of the scenario in the region.

The aesthetics worked despite the continuous interruption of the “Israeli” soldiers during the discussions and panel discussions threatened to tilt the intention to create ambience into overkill.  

But over the next two days, the Joseph Stone auditorium became a site of contestation, debate and discussion.

Both Arraf and Mckinney participated in a tree planting and a symbolic gesture of peace through a dove releasing ceremony as well as in a vast array of panel discussions.

Where the festival lacked in big name directors and films, even in technical prowess, it made up in its dynamic but intimate guest speakers and public debates. It was admirable that these two important figures continuously made themselves available to the general public to exchange opinions and ideas on the situation in Palestine.

That the festival was held in a modest community hall proved to be an incredible enigma.

Far from the becoming a farcically glamorous affair; where many politically charged issues can become overly-romantic and issues reach an artistic and often aloof sphere, the festival remained deeply rooted at the community level with an army of volunteers working tirelessly on making the festival as authentic as possible.

At the same time, the festival seemed to only attract the local community and not a wider audience.

Convenor of the festival, Fahrie Hassan explained that response to the festival had been phenomenal. But he did admit that it was disappointing to see mostly Muslims at the festival, when attempts were made to bring other communities to participate.

He said that while members of the Jewish community got involved in their personal capacity, it was regrettable that the United Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa did not subscribe to the event.

"Members of the Jewish community got involved, on a personal capacity, but I am disappointed that the United Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa did not come on board after we invited them. This (festival) was an attempt to make it as broad as possible. The Christian community came on board, with Mxolisi Mbampani, Arch Deacon of the Ordinary, SA Council of Churches at the festival over all three days," explained Hassan.

"The Act of State: 1967 – 2007 photo exhibition at the festival was paid for by a Jewish lady," added Hassan.

"This was not meant to be an exclusive Muslim festival. And people liked the variety of documentaries showcased. People were moved."

Fahri added that based on the success of this festival, Channel 4 is considering taking the festival to other areas in Cape Town, to expand the reach of its message and it appears that this is likely to become an annual event on the Cape Town calendar.

Azad Essa is a journalist, lecturer and an aspiring filmmaker. He completed an MA with the Global Studies Program in 2005, spending semesters in Germany and India, during which he encountered a number of head-banging social theories explaining why the world was, is and always will be unfair. He can be reached via artculture@iolteam.com.