By Ruba Hattar
Regards de Palestine - نظرات فلسطينيّة is a program around Palestinian cinema, which is aimed at different audiences curious to meet Palestinian cinematographic and artistic expressions. It is part of a global movement to amplify the voice of Palestinians.
The program from 7-13 June included screening-debate of the film When I Saw You - The Film لما شفتك by Annemarie Jacir in the presence of the actor Salah Bakri. It also displayed a number of recent award winning Palestinian films such as Wajib and It Must Be Heaven.
The films were shown at CinéMadart, a cinema hall with a program combining culture and pleasure.
Issues of nationalism are at the heart of Palestinian cinema, and cultural expressions of nationalism remain central to many Palestinian films. Palestinian intellectuals have long debated the frag-mentation of Palestinian experience and the means of conveying a sense of Palestinian identity and community in the face of exile and dispersal. Yet recent films have shown success in presenting these diverse conflicting elements to the world.
Film makers have been quite active in getting their films included in international festivals and a good number of them have been nominated for the Oscars and other major global awards.
