DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival a Great Success
The DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival (DCPFAF) is ecstatic to share that its Fourth Annual Festival has been its most successful to date.
The Festival sold out all but two of its shows and the number of attendees who we had to turn away made clear to us that we are now in need an even larger venue next year. In addition to making breakthroughs in our outreach efforts within the District, the Festival took a huge leap forward this year by featuring a broad and unprecedented array of art forms. This included our traditional offering of feature films and shorts as well as musicians, photographers, folklorists, writers, and digital artists.
This year’s festival was dedicated to the resilient Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip. The program featured films showcasing life in Gaza including “Where Do the Birds Fly?” by Fida Qishta, “Gaza 36 mm” by Khalil Al Mozayen, and “Condom Lead” by Tarzan and Arab Nasser. It also highlighted the work of Palestinian writers and artists from the Gaza Strip like Laila El Haddad, author of Gaza Kitchen and Huda Asfour, musician and composer, who debuted her latest work, Mosaic.
The opening reception, attended by nearly 120 guests, featured an exhibit of Visualizing Palestine infographics at FICA DC with a reception that included dance and live music. This year’s most prominent films included Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar nominated film, “Omar,” as well as Cherien Dabis’s critically-acclaimed “May in the Summer,” which made its DC-debut at the Festival and will be released in theaters soon. The panel, “Between Two Lovers: Palestinian Art Between Old & New” featured Laila Jadallah, photographer, and Tamara Essayad, co-founder of Ibra w-Khayt, an embroidery start-up led by Palestinian women on the ground. The panel explored cross-stitching or tatreez, a Palestinian folkloric practice, and its contemporary expression today in photography and clothing.
The closing reception was a high-energy celebration that featured nationally acclaimed jazz vocalist, Lena Seikaly. Among the Festival’s most exciting highlights were the events that took place in the lead up to the 4-day affair. This included a sold out Open Mic dedicated to Freedom at Busboys and Poets that featured music, rap, poetry, the Foty Fusion – a live band including flute, piano, bass, and oud. In an exciting twist, Angela Davis, globally esteemed scholar, activist, and former political prisoner, attended the event to show her support for the cause and the Festival.
The DCPFAF made its mark in the DC culture scene appearing in the Washington Post, on WAMU radio, on DC public television, and across several community calendars.
The DCPFAF aims to highlight Palestinian subjectivity through cinema, music, and other forms of visual arts. The stories shared in this festival are not necessarily about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, nor are they necessarily stories about Palestinians, but they are stories told by Palestinians that reflect the dynamic formation of a transnational identity common to Palestinians and diasporic communities in general. Beyond that, this project aims to bring DC’s various communities closer together through art, and catalyze invigorating discussions about film and culture using the lens of Palestinian filmmakers as an entry point.
Arab America was a proud media sponsor of the 2014 DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival.