The Palestinian film festival held on campus this week is a big step up from previous classes that focused on Middle Eastern cinema, organizers said.
“They used to have to punch a hole into the wall to project films from [an] adjacent cubicle in the small basement all the way in the bottom of the Mathematics building,” professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature Hamid Dabashi joked in his opening remarks at the festival’s start on Wednesday.
The film festival, titled “Dreams of A Nation,” was organized by the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia, which launched last October.
Students who attended the festival, which runs until this Sunday, Feb. 6, said that it contributed to a new representation of Palestinian culture on campus—one that went beyond Middle East conflict.
“It’s a great opportunity for Palestinians to be represented in a capacity that isn’t solely related to the Israel-Palestine conflict,” Gabriela Siegel, CC ’13 and a MESAAS major, said. “It’s a celebration, not a protest.”
Caitlin Watson, CC ’13, agreed. “When we talk about Palestine, it’s always just a big protest on Low,” she said.
Renda Wahba, one of the organizers of the film festival and a student at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, said that the event was aimed at honoring Palestinian culture.
“We were hoping to showcase Palestinian film and celebrate Palestinian cinema because it hasn’t received a lot of attention worldwide,” Wahba said. “The movies we want to show are not about Palestine, but by Palestinians.” Rawan Hadid, the curator of the film festival and Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies masters student, agreed with Wahba.
“The curatorial intent is to celebrate national achievements recognizing the fragmentation of the Palestinian narrative,” Hadid said. Dabashi said that Palestinian culture has been underrepresented worldwide and at Columbia—a trend that seems to be changing with events such as the film festival and the activity of the Center for Palestine Studies.
The festival also featured the New York City premiere of the film “Pomegranates and Myrrh,” including a panel discussion with director Najwa Najjar and lead actress Hiam Abbass.
The film, about a newlywed woman who falls in love with her dance instructor after her husband gets arrested by Israeli authorities, caused controversy in Palestine because of its depiction of the wives of prisoners.
But Najam Haider, a professor of religion at Barnard who attended the screening, thought it contributed to a positive dialogue about Palestinian culture.
“Art relates to real life perspectives and these are perspectives that are not really seen. We get a sense of empathy from watching the film that causes real change,” she said.
jackie.carrero@columbiaspectator.com
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