BUDRUS Friday 03 Jun 2011 7:00 pm
“…this year’s must-see documentary Budrus, a riveting window into what might be possible if Palestinians adopted civil disobedience on a huge scale.”
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Julia Bacha / USA (Arabic and Hebrew with English sub.)/ 2009 / 82min / Doco
An award-winning documentary about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members, along with Israeli supporters, in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today.
While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. As one movement succeeds in doing what many people believe to be impossible: uniting feuding Palestinian political groups, bringing women to the heart of the struggle and welcoming hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory to join this nonviolent effort.
12th AND DELAWARE Saturday 04 Jun 2011 7:00 pm
“The frontlines of the abortion debate is on these corners, in the crisis pregnancy centres, that’s where this whole battle is unfolding … and it is a battle for hearts and minds.”
Heidi Ewing, co-director Australian Premiere Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady / USA / 2010 / 90min / Doco
On each side of 12th and Delaware, soldiers stand locked in passionate battle. On one side of the street is an abortion clinic. On the other, a pro-life outfit often mistaken for the clinic it seeks to shut down. Using skillful cinéma vérité observation that allows us to draw our own conclusions, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing shine a light on one of America’s most intractable conflicts.
MOVING TO MARS Sunday 05 Jun 2011 7:00
Mat Whitecross / UK (English and Karen with English sub.) / 2010 / 84min / Doco
Moving to Mars follows two refugee families from Burma over the course of a year that will change their lives completely. Forced from their homeland by the repressive military junta, they have lived in a Thai refugee camp for many years. A resettlement scheme offers them the chance of a new life, but their new home, in the British city of Sheffield, will be different to everything they have ever known. Director Matt Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo) depicts the families’ moving and sometimes humorous encounters with 21st century Britain whilst giving us an insight into the experiences and struggles of people trying to find a new place to call home.
Buys tickets right now at http://hraff.org.au/city/byron-bay/