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Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 19:00 Palestine, 18:00 Europe. Run Time 48 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by a discussion with the audience.
About the Film
Musicians from all around the world revive the Palestine National Orchestra and perform in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestine National Orchestra (PNO) was first set up in 1936 but was disbanded when Israel was founded in 1948.
In 1993, a group of musicians started a Palestinian national music school in Ramallah that has developed into the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. It now has branches in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nablus and Gaza.
In 2010, the conservatory decided to revive the national orchestra by bringing musicians together from all around the world.
“It took us a year to collect all the names, make calls and get the names and numbers… We created a network, and they came from all over the world,” explains Mohammed Fadel, musician and cofounder of the PNO.
“People from abroad helped us. So did others from the Arab world. They trained our members on how an orchestra works. It was the birth of the first Palestinian orchestra and gathering of musicians.”
The musicians come from different backgrounds but are all equally proud of their Palestinian origins. They’re thrilled to be invited to join the orchestra and moved by the shared experience of bringing quality classical Western and traditional Arab music to their target audience in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Charlie Bisharat is a professional violinist in California whose Palestinian father and uncles emigrated to the US in 1950. Being part of the orchestra “is a dream for me,” he says.
“I had never had the opportunity to come to Palestine…. I really didn’t know when I would ever have that opportunity. So it was really a great chance to come out and meet people of my heritage and play music with them, and it is a very not-political situation, so it’s really nice because we’re here to spread the word of Palestinian culture and the good side of the culture,” Bisharat says.
Sawsan Qaoud
About the Film Director
Palestinian filmmaker Sawsan Qaoud was born in Nablus, Palestine, and obtained a master degree in Media TV Production from Moscow University and Cardiff University. She worked as a TV Producer and director with several TV stations before opening up Smart Frame Company, the first production house in Palestine. In 2013 with other talented Palestinian producers, she formed the company Mashahid for Art and Film Production; a company which produces films and collaborates on film projects with other filmmakers. Over the years she has produced and directed documentaries on a wide range of cultural and social topics that have gone on to film festivals. She is also director of Palestine Cinema Club in Birzeit.