The first London Palestine Film Festival was held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in Spring 1999. In response to public interest, the organisers decided in 2004 to establish the Palestine Film Foundation (PFF) as a body dedicated to the coordination of the festival and to the archiving of audiovisual materials related to Palestine.And details of the current year's festival are here.
The PFF is a nonprofit initiative which seeks to develop an audience for and to encourage the development of a Palestinian cinema and cinema related to Palestine. It is managed by a network of academics, curators, filmmakers, and volunteers from Palestine, the UK and elsewhere.
In addition to the annual festival, the PFF coordinates film and video related tours, special screenings and film linked seminars throughout the year and across the UK. These activities allow the PFF to introduce innovative and important works of documentary and fiction to new audiences and to provide a forum for visiting artists to engage UK audiences with work that is otherwise seldom screened.
From 2012, the PFF began developing a new web portal designed to increase access to its expansive archive of film and video related resources. Funding is currently being sought for this new online platform for research, exhibition, and distribution, with the site expected to launch in summer 2013.
The PFF relies on charitable donations, partnerships, and funding to deliver its projects. Please consider making a secure donation to the PFF using the button at the left of this page.
November 24, 2014
London Palestine Film Festival 2014
The London Palestine Film Festival 2014 opens on Friday November 28. Here's brief history of the festival from the sites, "about" page:
November 22, 2014
The World is my Country - Leon Rosselson in Covent Garden
From
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street
Covent Garden London WC2H PBP 0207 420 9888 Fourth Friday takes place at the Poetry Cafe from 8pm to 10:30pm -ish on the fourth Friday of almost every month.
There is a bar, food and disabled access.
The nearest tube station is Covent Garden.
Admission £7 (£5 concessions).
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street
Covent Garden London WC2H PBP 0207 420 9888 Fourth Friday takes place at the Poetry Cafe from 8pm to 10:30pm -ish on the fourth Friday of almost every month.
There is a bar, food and disabled access.
The nearest tube station is Covent Garden.
Admission £7 (£5 concessions).
Next fourth friday, 28th November, we consider pacifism in WW1: singer songwriter Leon Rosselson ; poets Jenny Lewis, Alan Brownjohn, Anna Robinson; singers Krysia Mansfied, Dan Kennedy
November 28th – The World is my Country. One key aspect of the First World War receiving little or no attention in this year’s commemorations is the history of the people and organisations that opposed it. We offer new insights on World War One and its objectors with poems and songs commissioned by Peace News and introduced by PN’s Emily Johns. In addition, there’ll be great anti-war songs and more from acclaimed singer songwriter Leon Rosselson. Jenny Lewis will be reading from her collection, Taking Mesopotamia, published this year by Carcanet and inspired by her search for her lost father—who led his troops across the desert by starlight in the ill-fated Mesopotamian campaign of World War One and died in the Second World War when Jenny was a few months old. Jenny Lewis (below) trained as a painter at the Ruskin School of Art before reading English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. She has published three collections of poetry as well as two pamphlets with the Iraqi poet Adnan Al-Sayegh. She teaches poetry at Oxford University. ‘Taking Mesopotamia in one slim volume mines a rich seam from the Epic of Gilgamesh via Welsh mining communities and the First World War to the most recent Iraq wars.’ (Poetry Society)
Items from the floor, especially on themes of peace and war, welcomed.
November 08, 2014
Opposing Zionism from the West Bank to the South Bank
Press report from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network:
No Israeli Funding of the Arts
Southbank, London, 5 November 2014.
A lively and colourful 50 person-strong protest outside the BFI
(British Film Institute) condemned the BFI for hosting an
Israeli-sponsored film festival only weeks after Israel committed
mass-murder, killing 2100 people, including over 500 children during its
51-day assault of Gaza.
Called by a new initiative, No Israeli Funding of the Arts
(NIFA) [1], protestors from all walks of life, including Muslim, Jewish
and Israeli, chanted and spoke out against the UK Jewish Film Festival
(UKJFF) because it had insisted on accepting Israeli funding – in the
midst of Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of murder,
extermination and persecution and incitement to genocide [2] – even when offered alternative funding.
Protestors
spoke out against the presence of Secretary of State for Culture, Sajid
Javid, at this opening gala of the UKJFF – he had slandered opponents
of Israeli funding of the film festival by implying they were guilty of antisemitism. The tiny Zionist counter-protest used the same slur.
Protests
against the film festival at the Tricycle last year called for it to
reject Israeli funding, and this summer the Tricycle made its courageous
decision to reject the tainted funding. Last night’s protest publicised that over 500 artists and theatre practitioners had publicly
defended the Tricycle from the false accusation of antisemitism when it
had offered to replace Israeli funding so that the film festival could
take place there.
Public
protest had already closed down an Israeli-funded theatre company at
the Edinburgh Fringe. Besides the Tricycle, the Bristol Encounters Film
Festival and artists from Sao Paulo Art Biennial had all rejected
Israeli Embassy funding in this last period.
There will be further protests against the Israeli-funded film festival.
[1] See No Israeli Funding of the Arts letter to all the cinemas hosting the UKJFF here.
[2] Russell Tribunal on Palestine
November 06, 2014
DEMAND “NO” TO ISRAELI SPONSORED FILM FESTIVAL
From the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
NO ISRAELI FUNDING OF THE ARTSDEMAND “NO” TO ISRAELI SPONSORED FILM FESTIVAL
Protest @ BFI SouthbankThursday, 6 November 6.45-8pmBelvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XTTubes: Waterloo (South Bank exit), Embankment and Charing Crossbring your banners, placards, megaphones & chants!
The Israeli Embassy is a sponsor of the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF). Only a few weeks ago the Israeli state again slaughtered the people of Gaza: over 2100 killed, over 500 were children.
Destroyed flats, Gaza City
Public protest closed down an Israeli-funded theatre company at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Tricycle, the Bristol Encounters Film Festival, artists from Sao Paulo Art Biennial all rejected Israeli Embassy funding.See our No Israeli Funding of the Arts (NIFA) letter to all the cinemas here.Contact your the cinemas by phone, email, website, leaflet or street protest, and let them know what you think of them hosting an Israeli-funded event. Call or write to the local press or call-in radio. (All cinema contact details are here.)
October 31, 2014
Jewish Chronicle forced to tell the truth, shock!
Here's a heart warming tale of how the Jewish Chronicle was forced to be honest not once but twice.
Check out the Palestine Solidarity Campaign for full details but here's a taste:
So here's the JC's link as it appears on its homepage, The Palestine Solidarity Campaign which doesn't give much away. And here's the correction as it appears when you click on the link:
If they're so happy to set the record straight why did they hide the link when they did?
Check out the Palestine Solidarity Campaign for full details but here's a taste:
The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has demanded that The Jewish Chronicle reissue a correction to a story which made false claims about Palestine Solidarity Campaign and our director, Sarah Colborne.
The demand came after The Jewish Chronicle (JC) failed to adhere to an agreement made with the PCC that the original correction would remain on the homepage of its website for two days and two nights. After uploading the correction onto its UK News page on 23rd October, the JC then removed it later the same afternoon.
A week later, following intervention from the PCC, the JC is today (30th October) once again carrying the correction. This time, the link to the correction is on the homepage as agreed, and will remain there until 1st November.
The JC’s original story, which resulted in our complaint to the PCC, was published online on 17th July on its homepage, and was headlined Pro-Palestinian group says its supporters made antisemitic comments.
This was a completely false headline, and attributed comments to Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Director, Sarah Colborne, which were never made.
So here's the JC's link as it appears on its homepage, The Palestine Solidarity Campaign which doesn't give much away. And here's the correction as it appears when you click on the link:
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign
In an article published on July 17 headlined 'Pro-Palestinian group says its supporters made antisemitic comments', we stated that the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Sarah Colborne, had said that demonstrations against the Gaza conflict "had been used by people to 'peddle hatred and intolerance' towards Jews".
Ms Colborne had not said that. In fact, what she had said was: "The Palestine Solidarity Campaign opposes all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and racism directed against Palestinians whether living in the West Bank and Jerusalem, or as citizens of Israel." We are happy to set the record straight.
Last updated: 11:17am, October 30 2014
If they're so happy to set the record straight why did they hide the link when they did?
October 29, 2014
More Saying No to Brand Israel
An email from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network:
Protest the Israeli-funded UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) taking place between 6-23 November in cinemas in Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester and Nottingham.Public protest closed down an Israeli-funded theatre company at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Tricycle, the Bristol Encounters Film Festival, artists from Sao Paulo Art Biennial all rejected Israeli Embassy funding.IJAN is centrally involved in the No Israeli Funding of the Arts (NIFA) initiative. See NIFA’s letter to all the cinemas here.Contact your local (or even distant) cinema by phone, email, website, leaflet or street protest, and let them know what you think of them hosting an Israeli-funded event. Call or write to the local press or call-in radio to tell them what you think of their Israeli rebranding. (All cinema contact details are here.)One of the opening gala nights is at the London BFI on 6 November (see below) we will protest their collaboration with the slaughterers of the Gazan people.
Protest @ BFI SouthbankThursday, 6 November 6.45-8pmBelvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XTTubes: Waterloo (South Bank exit), Embankment and Charing Crossbring your banners, placards, megaphones & chants!
The Israeli Embassy is a sponsor of the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF). Only a few weeks ago the Israeli state again slaughtered the people of Gaza: over 2000 killed, over 500 were children.
Destroyed block of flats, Gaza City
October 15, 2014
Saying No to Brand Israel
From the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
NO ISRAELI FUNDING OF THE ARTS
IJAN
is centrally involved in the No Israeli Funding of the
Arts initiative – we want everyone we are in touch with to
know that the Israeli-funded UKJFF (UK Jewish Film Festival) is taking place
this year (6-23 November) in cinemas in Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester
and Nottingham.
We have written to all the cinemas – see our
letter below – and we are asking that you contact your local (or even a
distant) cinema by phone, email, website, leaflet or street protest, and let
them know what you think of them hosting an Israeli-funded event. (All cinema
contact details are at end of this email.) Call or write to the local press
or call-in radio to tell them what you think of their not caring for the
Jewish films, only for the Israeli rebranding (see below).
Check the UKJFF calendar to find when
each cinema is hosting UKJFF films.
The opening gala night is at the London BFI on 6 November – we are planning
to protest their collaboration with the slaughterers of the Gazan people.
Note: IJAN workshop,
From Gaza to Ferguson @ Anarchist Bookfair,
18 Oct, 3-4pm
|
NO ISRAELI FUNDING OF
THE ARTS
LETTER
TO CINEMAS HOSTING THE UK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
We are writing to you as
one of the cinemas hosting the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) 6-23 November,
2014, to ask that you reconsider.
Who we are
We are a diverse group, including Israeli and other Jewish people, most of us local to, and often in the audience of, the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, northwest London. In 2012 local residents leafleted the cinema to oppose its hosting of the Israeli-sponsored UKJFF; in 2013 we protested outside the Tricycle when it again hosted the UKJFF. (The protests were called by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.)
Tricycle / UKJFF
This year, many including ourselves, welcomed the Tricycle’s stand against the festival’s funding by the Israeli Embassy during Israel’s 50-day slaughter on Gaza.
The Tricycle had offered
the organisers of the UKJFF replacement funding so that the film festival
could go ahead at the Tricycle. But the UKJFF refused their offer and
to dissociate itself from the Israeli government – the priority was Israeli
sponsorship, rather than the film festival.
Is the UKJFF merely a means to a political end, to give Israel a
humanist image?
Who attacked the
Tricycle
The Government’s Chief Whip, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Israeli Ambassador, each publicly attacked the Tricycle for having refused Israeli sponsorship. They slandered the Tricycle by accusing it of antisemitism; as did donors and local councillors who threatened to withdraw funds and involve the Charity Commission.
Who defended the
Tricycle
Support came from National Theatre director, Nicholas Hytner, acclaimed director Lenny Abrahamson; over 500 artists, including prominent theatre directors and playwrights, some of whom affirmed “We artists have a right to boycott” (letter to the Stage); and note the artists’ solidarity page: “The Tricycle Theatre is Not Anti-Semitic.
In July, Scottish artists, including National Poet Liz Lochhead, signed an open letter in The Herald protesting an Israeli-funded theatre company at the
Edinburgh Fringe. After vociferous
public protest, the show closed after one performance.
Following the Tricycle’s refusal of Israeli funding, the Encounters Film
Festival in Bristol and artists from the 31st Sao Paulo Art Biennial in
Brazil also refused Israeli funding.
What
Israel’s
apologists did
While crying antisemitism, Israel’s apologists used their attack on the Tricycle to try to distract the public from Gaza: from seeing Israeli politicians, religious authorities, journalists and the public, calling for mass rape, mass murder, even genocide of Palestinians; from the bloodied tanks, F16s, drones, bunker busters, sea-to-land missiles, remote-controlled machine guns, that blasted schools, hospitals, mosques, blocks of flats, children playing football; and from the 2,200 Gazans killed -- over 500 children, and half a million displaced.
The
Russell Tribunal on Palestine found evidence of war crimes, crimes against
humanity, crimes of murder, extermination and persecution and also incitement
to genocide.
What happened to the
Tricycle
Even while Gaza was being destroyed, the Tricycle was forced to retreat. But actress Maureen Lipman, advocating for the UKJFF admitted that they knew the depth of the community’s support for the theatre’s stand, announcing that the festival was unlikely to go back to the Tricycle any time soon.
That
stand reaffirmed that the arts
are social and political. It was
welcomed by anti-racists everywhere. And please note: both the local council
and the Arts Council ruled out loss of funding.
What
we want you to do
The assistant manager of the Everyman cinema insisted that “refusing to host any arts festival on political grounds will cause more harm than good.” (Email, 10 September 2014.) The Everyman’s is not a principled position – it is complicity and appeasement. It is the argument of those who refused to boycott South African apartheid.
Who
knows better than Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a proponent of cultural boycott,
who said, “We in South Africa know about oppression and occupation and know
about the power of BDS” (Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions)?
We
ask that you take direction from the anti-racist, non-violent,
Palestinian-led BDS movement.
We
ask that you refuse to host the UKJFF
– not because it is Jewish, of course, but because it is funded by the
Israeli Embassy. The embassy’s job,
especially in London (the boycott “hub”) is to promote what it calls Brand
Israel – state-sponsored propaganda, designed to camouflage Israeli brutality
within a smokescreen of culture, including film festivals.
We
ask that you side with the victims and survivors of the assault on Gaza – not
be part of the cover-up of war crimes being committed against them.
|
CINEMAS
HOSTING THE UKJFF
Glasgow
Venue CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts)
Address 350
Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3JD
Email gen@cca-glasgow.com
Telephone 0141
352 4900
Venue Glasgow Film Theatre
Address 12
Rose St, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G3 6RB
Telephone 0141
332 6535
Leeds
Venue MAZCC
Address 311
Stonegate Road, Leeds LS17 6AZ
Telephone 0113
268 4211
Venue Seven Arts Centre
Address 31(a)
Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, LS7 3PD
Email info@sevenleeds.co.uk
Telephone 0113
26 26 777
London
Venue Arthouse Crouch End
Address: 159A
Tottenham Lane, N8 9BT
Telephone 020
8245 3099
Venue BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Address 195
Piccadilly, W1J 9LN
Email info@bafta.org
Contact form http://www.bafta.org/contact-
Telephone 020
7734 0022
Venue Barbican
Address Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Email film@barbican.org.uk
Telephone 020 7638 4141
Venue BFI Southbank
Address Belvedere
Road, South Bank, SE1 8XT
Email director@bfi.org.uk
Contact form http://www.bfi.org.uk/form/
Telephone 020 7255 1444
Venue Ciné Lumière
Address 17 Queensberry Place, SW7 2DT
Telephone 020 7871 3515
Venue Curzon Mayfair
Address 38
Curzon Street, W1J 7TY
Venue Odeon Muswell Hill
Address Fortis
Green Road, N10 3HP
Contact form http://www.odeon.co.uk/
Telephone 0207
321 6237 (conferencing & events)
Venue Everyman Maida Vale
Address 215
Sutherland Avenue, W9 1RU
Telephone 0871
906 9060
Venue Everyman Hampstead
Address 5
Holly Bush Vale, NW3 6TX
Telephone 0871
906 9060
Venue JW3
Address 341-351
Finchley Road, London NW3 6ET
Email info@jw3.org.uk
Telephone 020
7433 8988
Venue LJCC (London Jewish Cultural Centre)
Address Ivy House, 94-96 North End Road, NW11 7SX
Telephone 020
8457 5000
Venue Odeon South Woodford
Address 60/64
High Road, South Woodford, E18 2QL
Telephone 0207 321 6237 (conferencing & events)
Venue Odeon Swiss Cottage
Address 96 Finchley Rd, NW3 5EL
Telephone 0207 321 6237 (conferencing & events)
Venue Phoenix Cinema
Address 52
High Road, East Finchley, N2 9PJ
Telephone 020
8444 6789
Manchester
Venue Cornerhouse
Address 70
Oxford St, Manchester M1 5NH
Email info@cornerhouse.org
Telephone 0161 228 7621
Venue Cineworld Didsbury
Address Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre, Wilmslow Rd, Manchester
M20 5PG
Telephone 0208
742 4010
Venue Menorah
Address 198
Altrincham Rd, Wythenshawe, Manchester M22 4RZ
Email filmclub@menorah.org.uk
Telephone 0161
428 7746
Nottingham
Venue Broadway Cinema
Address 14–18
Broad St, Nottingham NG1 3AL
Email info@broadway.org.uk
Telephone 0115
9526 611
|
October 14, 2014
Was UK Parliament Palestine vote justified or will the moon fall out of the sky?
I just found this poll on the Jewish News site:
The Jewish Chronicle is also worth a look at.
Is the vote on recognition of a Palestinian State justified, or rewarding terrorism?
Now look at the results so far:
Is the vote on recognition of a Palestinian State justified, or rewarding terrorism?
I've been quite indifferent to the whole thing but the various Zionist responses I've seen have made it worthwhile.
The Jewish Chronicle is also worth a look at.
October 08, 2014
Zionists panic over Palestine vote in UK Parliament
Here's a motion to be debated in the UK Parliament on Monday 13 October:
The first thing I noticed was a post to Harry's Place by a chap called Stephen Hoffman. Actually that's where I got the text of the motion from. Here's what Zionists are suggesting should be done to neutralise the motion:
Now the original motion is pretty weak and open to interpretation. A state of Palestine alongside Israel could be in Syria, Jordan, Egypt or Lebanon. But according to the Jewish Chronicle,
Ah I know, the JC very smartly avoiding quoting the motion so here it is again just in case Marcus Dysch (who else?) happens to pop by:
this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.There hasn't been much news about the debate and I have to say I don't feel particularly moved by it but then Ive never claimed to support the so-called two state solution. But Zionists here in the UK have gone into collective panic.
The first thing I noticed was a post to Harry's Place by a chap called Stephen Hoffman. Actually that's where I got the text of the motion from. Here's what Zionists are suggesting should be done to neutralise the motion:
At end, add’, on the conclusion of successful peace negotiations between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority.which of course means, this House believes that the Government should never recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.
Now the original motion is pretty weak and open to interpretation. A state of Palestine alongside Israel could be in Syria, Jordan, Egypt or Lebanon. But according to the Jewish Chronicle,
The [Zionist] activist said MPs backing the motion had been "very clever. The motion is very blandly worded and could be interpreted as being supportive of a two-state solution, which all key groups here support".Yup, it's certainly bland but how could the words "recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel" be open to any interpretation other than support for a two state solution?
Ah I know, the JC very smartly avoiding quoting the motion so here it is again just in case Marcus Dysch (who else?) happens to pop by:
this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of IsraelBad news for one staters like me but why is the JC so down on it it won't even show it to its readers?
October 01, 2014
Max Blumenthal reports back from the Russell Tribunal on Gaza
From the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Max Blumenthal reports back from the Russell Tribunal on Gaza
5pm, Saturday 4 October
INCA CGIL [Italian Trade Union
Centre]
124 Canonbury Road, N1 2UT
Nearest station: Highbury & Islington [Victoria line & Overground] Buses: 4, 19, 30 & 43, 271, 277 or 393
[get off at Highbury & Islington] [get map]
[get off at Highbury & Islington] [get map]
Admission free. Meeting is only for people who object to
the Israeli onslaught of Gaza
Max
Blumenthal is an author, a journalist and an activist. He's in London for a
few days and it is a great opportunity to hear him.
Watch video of his testimony at the Russell Tribunal last week, 24 September.
Read a recent article describing what he saw in Gaza after the ceasefire last month.
And see 11 min video of shocking Israeli racism: "Israel's New Racism: The Persecution of African Migrants in the Holy Land".
Facebook Event for this meeting
Organised by:
Islington Friends of Yibna
Islington_Yibna@Yahoo.co.uk
Islington_Yibna@Yahoo.co.uk
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