The War of 33: Letters from Beirut & Leila Khaled: Hijacker

The letters of Hanady Salman reveal real cost of war; Khaled is a terrorist or a freedom fighter?

Lebanon/USA / 2007 / 35 min / english s.t. & Lina Makboul / Sweden / 2005 / 58 min / english s.t.

This double-bill screening is co-sponsored by Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and the Fredericton Peace Coalition.

SYNOPSIS - THE WAR OF 33: An intimate, personal and powerful telling of the story of the 2006 war in Lebanon. A series of letters written by Hanady Salman - a mother living through the war in Beirut - carve a narrative arc through the intense and haunting images of conflict. She tells the stories of her family and the people she lives the war with – the refugees, the wounded, and the everyday Lebanese, struggling to maintain their sanity and their humanity during a time of war. The War of 33 is more than a document of a particular historical experience. What emerges is a universal story – a complex picture of love, pain, resistance and survival in the face of uncertainty and violence.

SYNOPSIS - LEILA KHALED: 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.

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