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A Palestinian Journey by Osama Qashoo

Screening: 24 October at 6.00 p.m.

Oxford, Old Fire Station 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ

Post Screening Discussion With Director

A Palestinian Journey

Part 1: My Dear Olive Tree

A documentary film about my olive tree under the Israeli occupation, recording the destruction of our olive trees. Also examining the role that the trees play in daily life, and why it is important for people to defend them against Israeli attempts to destroy them. The film touches on the irony of my existence in London and my discovery of peace doves made from olive trees of the Holy Land.



Parts 2: Inside Outside

‘People are usually born in their homeland – but for us, our homeland is born in us’. How does it feel to be a Palestinian, living in exile on an island in Palestine, in the middle of London? How do Palestinians born in the UK understand their identity? Generations of émigrés explain the sickness of exile to the filmmaker, newly arrived from Palestine after being forced to leave.



Part 3: No Choice Basis

Being on the edge of different lives, facing the question of identity, hanging on the phone, feeling my life on the surface whilst still following my destiny... so many questions, concerns and strong feelings...and then the unexpected exile from my exiled land. Must life be lived on a ‘no choice basis‘?



Director: Osama Qashoo

Running Time: 55 minutes Palestine /England 2005 QA with director

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Kings and Extras. Digging For A Palestinian Homeland
Director: Azza El-Hassan
Running Time: 62 minutes
Germany, Palestine 2004
Post Screening Discussion With Director

The films of the PO Media Unit were supposed to show a self-determined image of Palestinian reality – and they went missing during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982. In a ‘road movie’ from Palestine to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, the director Azza El-Hassan follows the contradicting and confusing clues of the lost archive. The increasingly absurd search finally leads her to a martyr’s graveyard, where the films are said to be buried – no one will dig here. After a series of dead ends, Azza is confronted with new clues and starts to construct her own story. Myths, life stories and lies, and the personal effects of defeat and loss are revealed with an insiders contradictory sense of belonging and opposition.

Screening: 24 October at 7.15 p.m. Old Fire Station