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24th Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival
Schedule of Events
1:00 PM 4:00 PM: SHORT FILMS: SOLIDARITY & PROMISE
We present a day of short films all themed around solidarity and promise.
MAWTINI (MY HOMELAND)
2023, dir. Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller, 19 min.
Together Nawal, a young Palestinian woman, and Tanya, an older Indigenous woman, start a guerrilla garden on the lawn of their apartment building and battle middle management to make it to harvest.
REMEMBERING WATER
2024, dir. Tom Callahan, 34 min.
What have Irish Americans forgotten? What can we remember? And how can we be a part of creating a world where Palestine and all of us are free?
DANCING PALESTINE
2024, dir. Lamees AlMakkawy, 37 min.
To dance is to remember, to dance is to remind. As the Palestinian identity continues to be threatened with erasure, Palestinians turn to their folk dance, the dabke, as an homage to their history and culture, and to assert their existence.
AHMAD ALIVE
2024, dir. Ahmad Ghunaim, 37 min.
This short film chronicles the harrowing journey of Gazan travel vlogger Ahmad Ghunaim, unexpectedly thrust into the role of a war correspondent after October 7th and is a testament to survival against all odds and a stark, unflinching account of covering a genocide.
1:00 PM 4:00 PM: SHORT FILMS: SOLIDARITY & PROMISE
We present a day of short films all themed around solidarity and promise.
MAWTINI (MY HOMELAND)
2023, dir. Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller, 19 min.
Together Nawal, a young Palestinian woman, and Tanya, an older Indigenous woman, start a guerrilla garden on the lawn of their apartment building and battle middle management to make it to harvest.
REMEMBERING WATER
2024, dir. Tom Callahan, 34 min.
What have Irish Americans forgotten? What can we remember? And how can we be a part of creating a world where Palestine and all of us are free?
DANCING PALESTINE
2024, dir. Lamees AlMakkawy, 37 min.
To dance is to remember, to dance is to remind. As the Palestinian identity continues to be threatened with erasure, Palestinians turn to their folk dance, the dabke, as an homage to their history and culture, and to assert their existence.
AHMAD ALIVE
2024, dir. Ahmad Ghunaim, 37 min.
This short film chronicles the harrowing journey of Gazan travel vlogger Ahmad Ghunaim, unexpectedly thrust into the role of a war correspondent after October 7th and is a testament to survival against all odds and a stark, unflinching account of covering a genocide.
4:00 PM 7:00 PM: THE PROMISE
2022, dir. Leonardo Antonio Avezzano
Jordan; 84 min.
In English and Arabic with English subtitles
Alaa Al Juneidi’s father defied the odds as a Palestinian, going from selling milk off the back of his bike to building a dairy empire. After the death of his father, Alaa is lost, caught in a mental vortex, unable to find his identity, unable to escape the promise he made to his father on his deathbed. It is a promise he is unable to share with anyone. But Alaa submits himself to this promise and sets out to climb Mount Everest. This deeply personal film explores the complex emotional bonds between father and son, and takes the audience on Alaa’s journey as he trains and then makes his difficult climb back to the summit of Everest on his unspoken mission.
Following the film will be a Q&A.
Preceded by the short films:
FROM GAZA TO CUBA
2024, dir. Frank Rojazz, 14 min.
A Gazan medical student studying in Cuba struggles to focus while news of his family and friends face the daily onslaught of Israel’s genocidal bombing campaign.
KHSARA
2024, dirs. Jameeleh Shelo and Dean Bushala, 15 min.
This short documentary shines a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the heroic efforts of the medical workers providing humanitarian aid.
4:00 PM 7:00 PM: THE PROMISE
2022, dir. Leonardo Antonio Avezzano
Jordan; 84 min.
In English and Arabic with English subtitles
Alaa Al Juneidi’s father defied the odds as a Palestinian, going from selling milk off the back of his bike to building a dairy empire. After the death of his father, Alaa is lost, caught in a mental vortex, unable to find his identity, unable to escape the promise he made to his father on his deathbed. It is a promise he is unable to share with anyone. But Alaa submits himself to this promise and sets out to climb Mount Everest. This deeply personal film explores the complex emotional bonds between father and son, and takes the audience on Alaa’s journey as he trains and then makes his difficult climb back to the summit of Everest on his unspoken mission.
Following the film will be a Q&A.
Preceded by the short films:
FROM GAZA TO CUBA
2024, dir. Frank Rojazz, 14 min.
A Gazan medical student studying in Cuba struggles to focus while news of his family and friends face the daily onslaught of Israel’s genocidal bombing campaign.
KHSARA
2024, dirs. Jameeleh Shelo and Dean Bushala, 15 min.
This short documentary shines a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the heroic efforts of the medical workers providing humanitarian aid.
Additional Dates:
