Memories of Ziad
Killing Without Consequence from ListenIn Pictures on Vimeo. “I miss my daddy,” said Yasmin quietly. We were at Moira Jilani’s home, with her 3 daughters, recalling memories about Ziad’s life. They talked about how much fun he was. He’d dreamed of having a big family and did everything he could to give his daughters great memories. He was always playing with whatever kids were around, whether they were his or not. Moira first knew he was a good man when she heard him talk about how much he loved and more »
The Last Kaffiyeh Factory in Palestine- Photo Essay
“Our story is a story.” “The factory has been here for 56 years.” “Little by little, we built it up.” “We used to work for 24 hours, and we couldn’t catch up. But after they opened up the market to China, it all came down.” “Now, we’re the only factory in the entire West Bank and Gaza, it’s just us, and it’s not even working out. Half our machines are offline.” “This is our thing, there’s no alternative. I’ve used a lot of energy doing it for a long more »
The Making of ‘Run for Freedom’
The story behind Run for Freedom all began when I was approached by a group of volunteers organizing The 5K Annual Palestine Run, a sport event occurring in various parts of Palestine to support diverse causes and charities that support children in need. The 5K promo not only had to revolve around running, but also books, as this year’s proceeds from the run were to go to ‘The Palestine Writing Workshop’, which supports children’s reading and writing through workshops and literature festivals. The idea for the film, about a young more »
Who Gets To Tell the Stories?
Why do you want to create videos? This was the first question we asked our students during our first video workshop here at Bethlehem University in the occupied Palestinian territories. “People always ask about our problems, but they don’t understand anything of what our lives are like. They seem to think we are abnormal. I want to show people what our real lives are like.” said Saneh. “I want to show real stories. Occupation continues because the media doesn’t show the real life. They tell a story to the world about who more »
[Video] International Women’s Day Protest at Qalandia
From the moment we arrived at the International Women’s Day protest at the Qalandia checkpoint, we could’t hear ourselves think. The Israeli Defense Forces had already activated a sound bomb- a loud, persistent and painful noise that feels like a hammer pounding a nail into your eardrum. They were already launching tear gas canisters into the crowd and “skunk water” was being sprayed (a putrid, carcinogenic liquid with a smell that won’t leave for weeks). We soon realized that our plan to shoot many interviews with women wasn’t going to happen. And more »
What Side of History Will You Be On?
I’ve got something to say. And this time I won’t stand silent. Ethan and I arrived in Ramallah two days ago to lead 2 video advocacy workshops: one for activists and non-profits and another for a group of 12 students at Bethlehem University. The Silence. I first came to the occupied Palestinian territories almost four years ago, to document the work of TYO, an incredible organization that offers kids from refugee camps a safe space to play and express themselves. I felt paralyzed when it came to expressing what it more »
No Boundaries
You know something is powerful when all of your dreams revolve around it. Last night we attended a tribute to Tim Hetherington titled No Boundaries at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. We watched Diary, his reflection on his experience as a war photographer (watch it on vimeo). It an incredibly inspiring and evocative piece which affected me deeply. It surreally explores the nature of memory and experience as he spent time in life threatening circumstances and then returned to everyday life. Although we do not do war photography, the more »
