By Yousef M. Aljamal, CPDS – Gaza
The Kuala Lumpur Palestine Film Festival (KLPFF), organized by Viva Palestina-Malaysia, in collaboration with the Malaysian Information, Communication and Culture Ministry and the Malaysian National Film Development Corporation kicked off on Friday 18 May, 2013 with remarkable Palestinian participation.
5 Broken Cameras, By Imad Burnat, nominated for a Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, leads the films for this year. It tells the story of building the Israeli separation wall on Palestinian lands, which was faced by villagers’ opposition.
The festival runs from 18-19 May. All films will be screened at Golden Screen Cinemas in Pavilion, KL
In a press release published in the wake of launching the festival, VMP explained that “the films screened at Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur highlighted many of the humanitarian issues besetting Palestine and the persecution of the Palestinian people under Zionist occupation of their lands.”
Other films to be screened include Man Without A Cellphone, directed by Sameh Zoabi, about a Palestinian slacker looking for a girlfriend and at the same time drawn into joining the fight against the Israeli occupation; and Gilad And All That Jazz, about famous saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, who was born into a pro-Zionist family but later declared himself an enemy of the Israeli state.
CPDS’s Director Dr. Mahmoud Alhirthani attended last year’s festival.
“KLPFF, held in Malaysia for the second time in two years, significantly promotes the Palestine Cause among people around the world using a tool not all activists pay attention to. It is remarkably distinctive for it helps portray what is going on in Palestine in a way the world can relate to,” said Alhirthani.
Mr Refaat Alareer, member of CPDS Board of Directors is attending the festival this year and represents the center. “It’s amazing. It shows an important part of the Palestinian resistance, but only one part. I wish future production will be totally produced by Palestinian institutions. 5 Broken Cameras is a giant lead in the Palestinian film production,” said Alareer from Kuala Lumpur.
Norma Hashim, the Treasurer VPM who edited CPDS’s latest book “The Prisoners’ Diaries” is attending the festival too.
“The aim of KLPFF is to raise awareness of the suffering and discrimination endured by the Palestinians under the Zionist occupation. Showing movies about Palestine is a powerful way of getting that message to the public , and hopefully an informed public will be able to influence their government’s policies towards Israel,” explained Hashim.
– CPDS is the Gaza-based Centre for Political and Development Studies. Yousef M. Aljamal contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. To obtain The Prisoners Diaries click here.
