Niyousha’s Pick: Palestinian Perspectives
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is just around the corner, and the Palestinian Perspectives film festival is back at the Cinémathèque québécoise for its eighth edition. Organized by the Regards Palestinians collective, the weekend’s program includes short films, documentaries, fiction, and mixed works. The films collectively shed light on the unfathomable oppressions faced every day by Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the haunted lives of Palestinians in exile.
The program kicks off on Friday with director Stefano Savona’s Plomb Durci, a documentary on the horrors experienced by Palestinians barricaded and under attack in the Gaza Strip during operation Cast Lead. On Saturday, Khaled Jarrar’s Infiltrés sheds light on desperate attempts to cross Israeli checkpoints and to move beyond the concrete barrier which divides the West Bank from Israel. If you’re looking for short films on Sunday, Murat Gökman’s Sayadeen (“fishermen”) documents the struggle to survive faced by fishermen in Gaza with access to no more than a three-mile section of the blockaded coast.
Palestinian Perspectives amplifies silenced voices that need to be heard, so take a few hours this weekend to listen to stories which tell “of living and surviving in the rubble, behind walls, between checkpoints, without ever giving in.”
Rosie’s Pick: “Nostalgia: A Night of Poetry”
McGill Spoken Word Associated Youth (McSWAY) is turning the SSMU building into a poetry cafe this week (okay, only one room in the building – but wouldn’t that be cool?) for “Nostalgia: A Night of Poetry.”
McSWAY is a relatively young group on campus, looking to build a McGill spoken word community. This themed night of poetry invites all to come and share their nostalgic notions – no poetic experience required. If you find yourself speaking in rhymes or if you’re a little bit lost in the past, this may be the perfect way to work through your thoughts. Current performers include Luca Loggia, Tristan Masson, and music from Mark Cool. There will also be free food.
McSWAY, according to the group, can be read in two ways – either as an acronym, or as a reference to the way that poetry can sway a crowd. So head over to SSMU this Wednesday and let yourself be swayed.
The screening of Plomb Durci is Friday, November 28 at 8:30 p.m..The screening of Infiltrés is Saturday, November 29 at 8:30 p.m.. The screening of Sayadeen is Sunday, November 30 at 7 p.m.. For the full event schedule, check out palestinianperspectives.blogspot.ca.
“Nostalgia: A Night of Poetry” is Thursday November 27 in room 108 in the SSMU building at 8:45 p.m..