The Kuwait Cinema Club inaugurated Sunday the Palestinian Cinema Week in Kuwait, to focus on the issue of Palestine, under the motto “Palestine as Depicted in Cinema.”
Kuwaiti minister of electricity and water and minister of social affairs and labor Talal al Ayar, speaking at the inauguration of The Palestinian Cinema Week on behalf of acting prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah, said that the Kuwaiti people have been supporting the Palestinian struggle against the Zionist forces since the thirties, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
He added that Kuwait, from where the Palestinian revolution was launched, will not linger in protecting this revolution until the Palestinian people returns to their lands.
Al Ayar described Palestinian-Kuwaiti ties as historic, brotherly and deep-rooted.
Board chairman of the Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) Walid al Nisf said that the company since its establishment in 1954 has always deducted part of its profits to support an Arab cause including the Algerian revolution and Arab efforts to repel the israeli aggression in 1956, 1967 and 1973.
Deputy board chairman of the Kuwait Cinema Club, Munif al Harbi said that this is the second Palestinian cinema week organized by the club, the first was in the eighties. He added that there are more than 200 films that tackled the Palestinian cause. The film al Jawaher al Thalatha (The Three Jewels), a Palestinian-Belgian-British production directed by Michael Khalifi opened the show today. the films are shown in al Shaab Park Cinema and entrance is free of charge.
Kuwait Cinema Club director Emad al Nowairi told KUNA that the films to be reviewed are not only the work of Palestinian directors or producers but concern the situation in Palestine. “There will be two films and a documentary. The first is al Mutabaqi (That Which Remains) by Iranian director Saifullah Dad and costarring Syrian film stars, Salma al Massri, Bassam Kusa. The second is Palestinian director Michael Khalifi's film al Jawaher al Thalatha which was actually shot in the occupied Palestinian territories two years ago and focuses on Israeli aggression and escalation,” added Nowairi.
Documentary films will also be reviewed, he said, including a Kuwaiti production entitled Ahlam Fi Faragh (Dreams in Vacuum) and the lebanese production Ahlam al Manfa (Dreams in Exile).
“It is important to make this event a success because as satellite channels provide live and direct coverage on developments, it is up to films to arouse people's sympathy,” Nowairi said.
“There are over 100 documentaries and 50 feature films that deal with Palestinian themes, but the public knows little if anything about them because the directors live in exile. Although the club is not involved in film production, it promotes better taste among viewers through showing films of good art and organizing seminars to discuss the themes to reach more than a single reading of scenarios,” said Nowairi – Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
