The Electronic Intifada 31 March 2011
A year ago, the Ramallah-based Stop the Wall campaign and itisapartheid.org began to collaborate on the first International Israeli Apartheid Short Film Contest. This contest encouraged the local Palestinian and larger international community to submit short films on the theme of Israeli apartheid.
From the videos submitted, the top ten short films were chosen to be showcased on the website (www.itisapartheid.info). Film contest organizers say “the media, especially in the United States, does not report the truth about Israeli apartheid. The contest is an attempt to engage young activists all over the world to use the creative resources of video to get the issue of Israeli apartheid into the mainstream.”
A process of viewing and voting on the films took place over the last months of 2010. Three panels of judges were formed to determine the winners of the four awards. The Expert Panel prize was determined by an international panel of experts in the fields of film and the Israeli occupation. The Global Jury prize was determined by internet voting by anyone who visited the website and viewed the films during the fall of 2010. The scores submitted at two separate showings in Palestine determined the Palestinian Jury prize. And lastly, the Overall prize was awarded to the most outstanding film.
The winning films are as follows:
The Expert Panel prize and Overall prize was awarded to “Road Map to Apartheid” by Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson
The Global Jury prize was awarded to “Confronting the Wall” by Alan Greig and John Davis
The Palestine Jury prize was awarded to “Ali Wall” by the Lajee Center
For further information on the contest or to view more videos, visit: www.itisapartheid.info
These powerful films are starting to circulate on the internet all over the world. There have been showing of the films, in the US, Canada, Ireland, Turkey, and Australia.
Rick Colbath-Hess is a labor and human rights activist who became active in the cause for Palestinian rights in 2007 after visiting the West Bank with his 12-year-old son. In 2008 he founded the www.itisapartheid.org collective to try to find creative ways to tell the Palestinian story despite a mainstream media who ignore or distort the truth.
