KUALA LUMPUR The third Kuala Lumpur Palestine Film Festival 2014 (KLPFF) takes place this weekend at Black Box, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, off Jalan Duta here.
It features four movies about the struggles of Palestinians under Israeli military rule.
Organiser, Viva Palestina Malaysia’s (VPM) deputy chairman Siti Jamilah Sheikh Abdullah said the festival is aimed at creating awareness of the Palestinian struggle, raising funds for ambulances in Gaza and helping the territory’s reconstruction.
She said the festival marks the Malaysian premiere of Academy Award-nominated film Omar, a narration of the Israel-Palestine conflict from a young freedom fighter’s point of view.
“There is also the Malaysian premiere of The Stones Cry Out,
which highlights the struggle for survival of Christian Palestinians, including 3,000 of them in Gaza,” she said.
The film directed by Italian filmmaker Yasmine Perni highlights the fact that Christianity began in Palestine, and Christian Palestinians have suffered persecution under Israeli rule.
The other films are A World Not Ours and InchAllah.
A book Remember Us will be launched by Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir on Saturday and it is a compilation of stories, narratives and poems by young Palestinian writers, edited by VPM members.
The guests at the two-day festival are Australian-based Palestinian writer Sameeha Elwan, who has contributed to Remember Us, Perni, American-based Palestinian author and activist Laila El-Haddad and Algerian-Belgian photographer Seba Asmaa.
Jamilah said VPM has transferred more than RM7.5 million to finance medical, educational and women’s projects in Gaza and since the Israeli attack last July, it has disbursed medical aid, food, mattresses, blankets, pillows, drinking water and ambulances worth more than RM1.3 million.
“KLPFF will provide the opportunity for Malaysians to see powerful films which have won international awards and experience the rich culture of the Palestinians,” she said.
The festival begins at 10.30am daily. Perni will give a talk on her film, El-Haddad and will have a cooking demonstration and Elwan will read her book.
Entry is free and donations are welcomed. The exhibition will be at White Box and the demonstration will be at PickNik Cafe, both in Publika.
There will also be a bazaar and cultural dances.
For more information call 012-217 0918 / 012-338 8461 / 012-211 5749 / 019-220 0013 or visit www.vpm. org.my.