culTure caPiTal
Ò DTFF is a young festival by all measures. It is modern and dynamic and feels different, unlike well-established cinema events the world overÓ The film looks different vis-à-vis typical Palestinian cinema production, what’s the reason in your view?
The initial expectation of a Palestinian production is to feature Palestinian kids stoning merciless Israeli soldiers forted behind their titanic tanks. We did not focus on that, though we make it clear in the background. And put the lens on the secret life of a rich Palestinian family leading a decent life under the overarching dark cloud of occupation.
in the Arab cinema, take Khalid Yousef and Inas Al-Deghaidi as examples...
Such critical facets of life shall be treated
as a tool to unfold the dimensions of story, depict the comedy, tragedy and paradox of life, but the work shall not be dedicated to sex and scandal n
Your film was harshly slammed, however, as offensive to the Palestinian woman, who otherwise leads a life of struggle against occupation and ever worsening conditions...
Criticism was sharp. The theme and storyline touched on what the Arab world considers as taboo. Qamar, the heroine, whose husband was falsely jailed and their land confiscated, exists in reality. We did not say every Palestinian woman, under choking conditions, will have extramarital love story, but it happens.
But do you agree that sex and ‘taboos’ have been excessively manipulated as a selling proposition
UNDer the LeNS Ashraf Farah is a Haifa-based Palestinian actor, armed with a 10-year career and diverse credits in theatre, cinema and TV. Palestinian director Najwa Al-Najjar chose him to play the main role in her directional debut, Pomegranates and Myrrh. The film made a mark, and was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Rotterdam Festival, besides Dubai and Doha Tribeca where it bagged two awards. On the basis of that success, Farah has advanced his career, and signed
to two projects, Miral, the new Julian Schnabel movie, and Balkis series, the biggest production for an Arab historical TV work. Balkis will be broadcasted on MBC soon. Born in 1974, Farah earned his acting training from the Ô Nissan NativÕ based in the occupied territories of Palestine Ð a three year diploma in acting and drama. Farah speaks excellent Arabic, Hebrew and English, and acts in diverse dialects, i.e. Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian Arabic and British, American and Scottish English.
November 10
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11/1/10 7:58:14 PM