WBC Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem
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WBC Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem |
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Screening and Discussion with film director Hanna Elias
Monday, 17th of September at 7:30 pm *
A Palestinian Love Story
Written and Directed by Hanna Elias
Color, 92 minutes, Arabic with English Subtitle
The Palestinian submission for the ACADEMY AWARD
and the GOLDEN GLOBE in the foreign language category
Hanna Elias tells a complex love story in his first feature film, The Olive Harvest, amidst the backdrop of intoxicating landscapes in Palestine.
Upon his release from an Israeli prison, older brother Mazen ( Mazen Saade ) develops romantic feelings for his childhood friend, Raeda ( Raeda Adun ). However, Raeda is already engaged to Mazen's younger brother Taher ( Taher Najeeb ), their love kept a secret because of the tradition for the eldest brother to wed first.
The two brothers become estranged soon after reuniting as they struggle to win over Raeda's heart. Mazen, with his romantic poetry and simple love for the olive groves that provide his community and family with their livelihood, shares in Raeda's dreams to remain in the village and harvest the olives. Taher, on the other hand, prefers to live in the city and ambitiously seeks to contain the growing Jewish settlement of the territories as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Counsel. Although his love for Raeda is strong, Taher's devotion toward this cause leads him to neglect his commitment to her.
Unsure of her true feelings, the beautiful Raeda is forced into making a decision by the feuding brothers and by her authoritative father. Each of the three central characters find themselves painfully torn between conflicting choices in this tale of love and loyalty to family, to those that they love, and to the land that they are connected to.
More than a mere love story, The Olive Harvest explores the dynamics of human relationships - between brother and brother, woman and man, father and daughter, sister and sister, and person to land.
"Palestinian director Hanna Latif Elias has pulled off a feat
that few world leaders, let alone filmmakers, could manage; he made his
feature film debut, "The Olive Harvest," in Ramallah, Palestine's
cultural center, with an Arab cast and an Israeli crew."
The Hollywood Reporter
For more information and reviews please visit the official website of
the movie 
www.theoliveharvest.com
"The Olive Harvest"
Color, 92 minutes
Arabic with English Subtitles
With: Muhammad Bacri, Arren Umari, Raeda Adon, Taher Najeeb, Mazen Saade and many others.
Writer and Director: Hanna Elias || Director of Photography: Ofer Harari || Editing: Sabine El Gemayal || Sound: Hazi Davidian || Music: Mark Adler || Producers: Kamran Ellahian and Hanna Elias
Winner of the Silver Pyramid at Cairo Int'l Film Festival, Best Arab Film and Jury Award || Honorable mention at San Francisco Int'l Film Festival || Official selectioon American Film Institute || Finalist Sao Paolo Int'l Film Festival
Jarmaq Production, 2003
www.willybrandtcenter.org/en/red/reviews07/olives
08.02.2012, 05:02