To See If I'm Smiling and Leila Khaled: Hijacker
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Sackville
Monday July 27, 2009
Screening begins 19h30
Venue: Room 108 Dunn Building, Mount Allison Campus (York at Salem)
First Film:To See if I'm Smiling (Lir’ot Im Ani Mehayechet)
Six female former soldiers reveal the pshychological scars of serving in the Occupied Territories.
Tamar Yarom / Israel / 2007 / 60 min / Hebrew with English subtitles
Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. In this award-winning documentary, the frank testimonials of six female Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza and the West Bank pack a powerful emotional punch. The young women revisit their tours of duty in the occupied territories with surprising honesty and strip bare stereotypes of gender differences in the military. The former soldiers share shocking moments of negligence, flippancy, immaturity and power-tripping as they describe atrocities they witnessed and participated in.
The psychological transformation that these young women underwent as a result of military service is both upsetting and riveting. The culture of war transforms people: personalities change, moral codes are subverted, values are supplanted and masks are constructed to dull the pain of what they did and didn't do in uniform. At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, and the actions of soldiers all over the world are being questioned, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics and moral responsibility intersect during war. [Description taken from Women Make Movies]
Credits
Directed by
Tamar Yarom
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Tamar Yarom writer
Produced by
Tamar Yarom .... producer
Original Music by
Jonathan Bar-Giora
Cinematography by
Shiri Bar-On
Daniel Gal
Itamar Mendes-Flor
Film Editing by
Eyal Or
Awards & Festivals
Int’l Doc FF Amsterdam (IDFA), Silver Wolf Award
Int’l Doc FF, Amsterdam (IDFA), Audience Award
Hot Docs, Special Jury Price
WATCH DOCS: Human Rights Int'l Film Festival, Jacek Kuron Short
Documentary Competition First Prize
Sarasota FF, Special Documentary Jury Prize
Haifa Int’l FF, Best Documentary
Dokufest, Best Feature Documentary
Israeli Documentary Competition, Best Documentary
Montpellier Festival, Documentary Prize
* New Orleans Middle East FF
* Boston Jewish FF
* Washington Jewish FF
* Palm Beach Jewish FF
* Hot Docs Canadian Int'l FF
* Sarasota FFl
* Calgary Jewish FF
* Visual Arts Center, Richmond
* Human Rights Watch Int'l Traveling FF
* Human Rights Watch Int'l FF, NY
* One World Int’l Human Rights Doc FF, Prague
* FICCO, Festival Int'l of Contemporary Cinema, Mexico City
* ZagrebDox - Int'l Doc FF, Croatia
* Full Frame Doc FF
* San Francisco Jewish FF
* Toronto Jewish FF
* DOXA Vancouver
Film site & Reviews
Second Film: Leila Khaled: Hijacker
A Palestinian female hijacker challenges our assumptions about those who resort to violent means in response to oppression.
Lina Makboul / Sweden / 2005 / 58 min
In 1969 Palestinian Leila Khaled made history by becoming the first woman to hijack an airplane. As a Palestinian child growing up in Sweden, filmmaker Lina Makboul admired Khaled for her bold actions; as an adult, she began asking complex questions about the legacy created by her childhood hero. This fascinating documentary is at once a portrait of Khaled, an exploration of the filmmaker’s own understanding of her Palestinian identity, and a complicated examination of the nebulous dichotomy between "terrorist" and "freedom fighter."
When Makboul tracks Khaled down, she finds Khaled living an ordinary life in Jordan, still firm in her belief that her actions were necessary and fully justified. The film weaves together scenes with Khaled, archival footage, and interviews with the people who were on the planes Khaled hijacked. Makboul searches for a way to reconcile her understanding of the Palestinian national narrative - which now includes Khaled’s actions - with the negative image she encounters from the rest of the world of Palestinians as bloodthirsty terrorists. At the same time, she comes to know Khaled for the very real person that she is as they talk, travel together, and share meals. The result is a multi-dimensional film unlike any other in its skillful handling of the complexities that arise when liberation movements incorporate violence as a tactic.
Credits
Director: Lina Makboul
Producer: Robert Danielsson
Creative Producer: Marcos Hellberg
Editor: Andreas Jonsson
Photography: Jallo Faber, Åke Wehrling
Produced by Tussilago
Co-producers: Swedish Television and Nederland’s NPS
Awards & Festivals
2006 Winner, Tempo Film Festival Stockholm, Lena Hellman Memorial Fund Award
2007 Winner, Tri Continental Film Festival, Grand Jury Award
2007 Winner, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Full Frame Spectrum Award
2007 Winner, Nöjesguiden, Best Film
Film site & Reviews
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