MONTREAL/February 15, 2005—
As part of the ongoing Peace and Conflict Resolution series, Concordia University will present Promises, the second film in the Borders and Bridges series. The screening will take place on Thursday, February 17, 2005, at 7:45 p.m. in the D.B. Clarke Theatre, on the basement level of the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West).
Promises follows the journey of one of its filmmakers, Israeli-American B.Z. Goldberg, as he travels to a Palestinian refugee camp, to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and to the more familiar neighbourhoods of Jerusalem where he meets seven Palestinian and Israeli children. Though the children live only 20 minutes apart, they exist in completely separate worlds, and the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep. Promises explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors. It presents the opportunity to develop a critical understanding of the deeply rooted conflict that the Israeli and Palestine contemporary societies face, from the unique perspective of the children interviewed in the film.
Rather than focusing on political events, the seven children featured in Promises offer a refreshing, human and sometimes humorous portrait of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This 106-minute video projection will be introduced by Dr. Ella Shohat, expert academic in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University. It will be followed by comments from the presenter and discussed by Philip Szporer, well-known Montreal filmmaker, international lecturer, and arts writer/reporter.
An open discussion with the audience will follow with an emphasis on the function of experiential education in societies in conflict, the role and challenges of newer generations, alternative ways of promoting dialogue, the inherent difficulties of such processes, and the challenges that newer generations of Israelis and Palestinians have to deal with today.
For more information about this lecture contact at, Dr. Lorna Roth, professor in the Department of Communication Studies, at (514) 848-2424, ext. 2535 or by e-mail at roth@vax2@concordia.ca. For updates on the Peace and Conflict Resolution series, please contact Laurie Lamoureux-Scholes at peace@alcor.concordia.ca
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
