NOLAPS is proud to be one of the founders of the New Orleans Human Rights International Film Festival.  this years festival promises to be one of the best, with a special focus on Palestine.

Please visit the site at http://nolahumanrights.org/ for complete schedule, or click "read more" below to see the Palestine-focused films at this year's festival.

Leila Khaled: Hijacker

| 58m | Director - Lina Makboul | doc |

It was August the 29th, 1969 and TWA flight 840 had just taken off. The destination was Tel Aviv, Israel. A short while later a woman leaves her seat and threatens the crew with hand grenades and enters the cockpit. She takes hold of the microphone; "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, kindly fasten your seat belts. This is your new Captain speaking. The Che Guevara commando unit of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine..." 24 year old Leila Khaled had just completed her first hijacking and at the same time she became the first woman ever to hijack an airplane. http://www.leilakhaled.com/

SCREENING:
4.22 9PM @ Zeitgeist

Occupation 101

| 89m | Director - Abdallah Omeish and Sufyan Omeish | doc |

Occupation 101 presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the United States' role, and sheds light on the major obstacles which stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -– ‘Occupation 101’ explains the situation in a comprehensive manner and gives audiences a complete context in which to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian encounter. The film depicts the root causes of the conflict through Israeli, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, American, and Palestinian voices that are rarely ever heard through mainstream media outlets. The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe of the 1880’s, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, and also covers the recent Gaza Disengagement of August 2005. http://www.occupation101.com

SCREENING:
4.19 7PM @ Zeitgeist

Palestinian Revolution Cinema

| 80m | Curated by Emily Jacir |

A special tribute to a group of filmmakers who have made significant contributions to various categories of Palestinian Revolution Cinema between the years of 1968 and 1982. Given the current political environment in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon in 2007, it is especially important to screen these films that have slipped through the cracks of history. They are a visual testament to past events and offer us a glimpse of history from the perspective of the people who actually lived it, a perspective not sanctioned by the official US/European meta-narrative of the region. In the context of last summer's Israeli invasion of Lebanon, screening Monica Maurer's film Born Out of Death of the aftermath of the Israeli bombardment of Beirut in 1981 has an ever more present urgency. How does our frame of reference of the current dire and desperate situation for Palestinians shift when we see the 1974 Israeli destruction of the Palestinian refugee camp Nabatiya in Mustafa Abu Ali's film They Do Not Exist? Films include: 1) Away from Home - Qais Il Zobaidi/Syria /11 min/ 1969. 2) The Visit - Qais Il Zobaidi/Syria/ 10 min/ 1970. 3) Children Nonetheless - Khadija Abu Ali/Palestine/ 25 min/1980. 4) They Don't Exist - Mustafa Abu Ali/Palestine/ 25 min/ 1974. 5) Born Out of Death - Monica Maurer/ Palestine/ 9 min/ 1981. Please see here for more detailed descriptions: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6560.shtml

SCREENING:
4.14 7PM @ Zeitgeist

USA vs Al-Arian

| 99m | Director - Line Halvorsen | doc |

An activist Arab family in Tampa Florida is targeted by the US government. The film shows a personal story of a family living in a society where fear of terrorism has resulted in increasing stigmatization and discrimination against Muslims. For years, Nahla Al-Arian and her children have been fighting to prove the innocence of husband and father Sami, a Palestinian refugee, university professor and civil rights activist, who has lived in the USA for more than thirty years. In 2003, Sami Al-Arian was accused of giving material support to a terrorist organization and held in solitary confinement for over three years. His six-month trial ended without a single guilty verdict. The failure to convict Dr. Al-Arian was seen as a stinging rebuke for the federal government. While the Bush administration considered this a landmark case in its campaign against international terrorism, Sami Al-Arian claims he has been targeted in an attempt to silence his political views. Because the jury hung on some of the counts, however, Dr. Al-Arian remained in jail as the prosecution threatened to retry him. http://www.usavsalarian.com/

SCREENING:
4.20 9PM @ Zeitgeist

Color of Olives, The

| 92m | Director - Carolina Rivas | doc |

From Mexican director Carolina Rivas and cinematographer Daoud Sarhandi comes this elegant and visually breathtaking new film about the Palestinian experience. The Amer family lives surrounded by the infamous West Bank Wall, where their daily lives are dominated by electrified fences, locked gates and a constant swarm of armed soldiers. This unique and intimate documentary shares their private world, allowing a glimpse of the constant struggles and the small, endearing details that sustain them. THE COLOR OF OLIVES is an artistic and beautifully affecting reflection on the effects of racial segregation, the meaning of borders and the absurdity of war. http://www.thecolourofolives.com/

SCREENING:
4.20 7PM @ Zeitgeist

Just Married

| 72m | Director -Ayelet Bechar | doc |

This film follows Kifah and Sudah, two newly married Palestinian women, and their experiences with the Citizenship Law that has been in effect in Israel since 2003. Under the law, residents of Palestinian-ruled territories are forbidden to enter Israel, even if they are married to Israeli citizens. Bechar, by capturing each couple in its most private moments, reveals the personal drama that emerges from the political crisis. Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.

SCREENING:
4.18 9PM @ Zeitgeist