PAST FESTIVALS - 2007 GUESTS
Tal Adler
Born in Jerusalem, Tal holds a Magister Diploma in Art from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and is a graduate of different programs of the Bezalel Academy of Art, Sam Speigel Film & TV School, Hebrew University and Musrara School of Photography and New Media.
His work is presented worldwide and includes the solo exhibitions "Unrecognized" about the Unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, "Conflict / 1 to 1,000", and "Nidbach", as well as many other group exhibitions.
Tal is also teaching photography and art at Ascola Meimad School of Art and Design, Sapir College Photography Dept., and Musrara School of Photography and New Media.
Amal Elsana Alhjooj
Ms. Amal Elsana Alhjooj is the director of AJEEC - the Arab Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation, a division of NISPED - the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development. Amal was born in Laqiya, an Arab Bedouin village in the northeastern Negev , to a family with 13 children. She completed her high school education in the village of Tel Sheva and went on to study social work at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev . She received her MA in community development from McGill University in Montreal Canada . However, she began her career as a community organizer when she was 14, and at the ripe age of 17, established the first Arab Bedouin women's organization. Amal is the recipient of a number of awards including 2003: Lady Globes 'Career Women of the Year' Award; 2004: Israel Small & Medium Enterprise Authority: 'Initiative of the Year' Award; 2004: Israel Women's Network: Citation 'Advancement of the Status of Bedouin Women'; 2004: WASME - World Association of Small and Medium Businesses - Special Honor Award; and was a 2005 candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize within the framework of the "One Thousand Women" submission.
Mohammad Bakri
Mohammad Bakri was born in the Arab village of Bi'ina (see Shaghur) in the Galilee in 1953. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of Acre. He studied acting and Arabic literature at Tel Aviv University in 1973 and graduated three years later.
Bakri began his professional acting career in plays in several theaters in Israel and the West Bank notably the Habima National Theatre in Tel-Aviv, the Haifa theater and al-Kasaba theater in Ramallah. After a few years of acting in Israeli film, Bakri began to act in international films in nations such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada. Bakri also directed two documentary films including the controversial "Jenin, Jenin" and most recently the autobiographical documentary "Since You Left".
Dr. Ilan Ben-Ami
Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Ilan Ben-Ami earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Sociology and Political Science from Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and his Ph.D. in Sociology, from the City University of New York, Graduate Center (1994). Upon completing his degree, Dr. Ben-Ami went back to Israel , where he is now a faculty member of the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at The Open University of Israel. Dr. Ben-Ami areas of expertise run from Israeli Society, Israel ' s Government and Politics and Israeli Minorities to Arts and Politics in Israel and Israeli Media. Dr. Ben-Ami is spending the 2007-8 Academic year on Sabbatical in the New York area.
David Deri
Director and scriptwirter, graduate of the Sapir College Film & TV school in the Israeli Negev.
Among his award winning films are "Until Tomorrow Comes" starring Yael Abecassis, nominated for five Israeli Film Academy Awards, winning Best Drama and Best Actress categries, and "Say Amen", an autobiographic documentary named one of the best five documentaries of the year 2005 by Israeli Film Academy. "No Longer Achmed" is his most recent documentary, gaining world-wide acclaim.
Mona Eltahawy
Mona Eltahawy is an award-winning New York-based journalist and commentator and an international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues.
Her opinion pieces have appeared frequently in the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post and the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper and she has also published opeds in The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Egypt's al-Dostour and Lebanon 's Daily Star. She recently became a columnist for the major Danish daily Politiken and the online commentary site www.saudidebate.com.
Mona was born in Egypt and has lived in the U.K, Saudi Arabia and Israel and is currently based in New York . She is a board member of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America.
In 2006, the Next Century Foundation awarded Ms Eltahawy its Cutting Edge Prize for distinguished contribution to the coverage of the Middle East and in recognition of her "continuing efforts to sustain standards of journalism that would help reduce levels of misunderstanding". In 2003, she came in 2nd place for commentary in the Public Radio News Directors Inc. Awards.
Nitza Gonen
Graduated in Cinema, Television and literature from Paris and Tel-Aviv, Gonen has directed and produced a variety of television and cinematic projects, focusing on drama films and innovative documentaries, as well as concerts and operas events. Her films deal with human and social issues. "Three Times Divorced" and "Pickles" deal with the fate of the Moslem woman. "Daddy Come to the Fair" , "Family Secrets", "Second Generation" and "Deadline" bring out the inner life of Holocaust survivors and their second generation. In "The Bunker", the hero, an Israeli artist, is obsessed, in his art, with Hitler. Israel today is seen through "Dimonians", a series about people in the desert or in "My Four Children" a documentary about a woman who lost two of her four children and raises four children with Down syndrome in spite of the protests of her family. Or in "True Kindness" which attempts to understand the source of the moral strength and courage of Zaka volunteers as they carry out their mission after terror attacks.
Avi Kleinberger
Born in Tel-Aviv 1945, Kleinberger is a graduate of Economics and Social Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, as well as graduate of Filmmaking Studies at The London Film School. Over the past 25 years Kleinberger has served as Producer, Writer, Actor, Assistant Director, and Production Manager of numerous American and Israeli productions, among them the ATASH, and SINCE YOU LEFT which are presented during the festival.
Adam Lebor
A British author and journalist based in Budapest, LeBor began his career as a foreign correspondent in 1991, covering the collapse of Communism and the Yugoslav wars. LeBor worked in more than 30 countries, and now reports on Central Europe for The Times. As a budding novelist and literary critic, LeBor reviews novels for the Economist, Sunday Telegraph, and Literary Review. He also writes for the Sunday Times, the NY Times and more.
LeBor's new book City of Oranges tells the true story of six families in Jaffa, three Jewish and three Arab. It has been critically acclaimed by The Times, The Guardian, the Jerusalem Post and Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat among others, and was shortlisted for the 2007 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize. The US edition, published by WW Norton in May, is an Editor's Choice in the New York Times.
Avi Mussel
Avi Mussel was born in 1964. "Maktub" is his first feature film. His short film "Korby's Girlfriend" (1994) won awards i Israel and in Tokyo Festival and participated in many festivals all over the world. Mussel also directs T.V commercials and he is a visual effects supervisor. In 2002 he was nominated for the Emmy award (USA) and the British Royal Academy Awards for his work as VFX supervisor on the TV series "Planet Storm" for Discovery channel.
During the last years Mussel is also cooperating with the international artist Michal Rovner, in planning and editing her video art in her exhibitions that take place in museums and locations all over the world.
Ami Nahshon
Ami Nahshon is the President & Chief Executive Officer of The Abraham Fund Initiatives, a non-partisan New York and Jerusalem based nonprofit organization working since 1989 to advance coexistence, equality and cooperation among Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens. The Abraham Fund provides leadership, training and research to the coexistence field, creates and operates large-scale coexistence initiatives and partnerships, conducts public education and advocacy, and funds strategic grassroots projects to promote its vision of shared citizenship and opportunity for all of Israel's citizens. A pioneer and leader in this field, The Abraham Fund Initiatives serves as an important resource for coexistence professionals in Israel and worldwide.
Prior to assuming his position in 2003, Nahshon served as the chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Federation and Foundation in Oakland, California for nearly 20 years. Nahshon serves on the Executive Committee of Foundations for Peace, a new international network of funders working in divided societies, and on the Leadership Committee of The Alliance for Middle East Peace, a US-based coalition of 42 organizations working for Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel and the Middle East. In 2006, Nahshon was named "International Non-Profit Executive of the Year" by the Executive Council of New York.
Rami Nuseir
Rami Nuseir received an Undergraduate Degree in Law from the University of Herefordshire , England , a Masters in International Comparative Law from the University of San Diego , and most recently a Masters in Intellectual Property from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
His professional career has included a wide array of non and for profit work. He was a Banking Litigation Attorney in Haifa , an Adjunct Contract and Constitutional Law Professor at the Baruch College Law and Paralegal Program in New York City , and for the non for profit organization Seeds of Peace, he was the head Arab Outreach coordinator, a key fundraiser, and the liaison between the organization and many of its nation wide chapters. He was working as the head Legal Council for The Arab American Family Support Center, the only such center in all of New York City . He was the Elective Director of Ishmael land Isaac an organization that promotes the reconciliation of Israelis and Palestinians through collaboration with American Jews, American Arabs and others who share this vision.
Currently living in New York City, Rami is the President of the American MidEast Leadership Network a not-for-profit organization that aims to empower Arab youth and to bridge professionals, educators and philanthropists from the Middle East and the United States through educational and cultural exchanges, which will inspire the emergence of future leaders in both regions who are equipped with a more thorough understanding of each other ' s cultural, religious and political lives.
Richard Pena
Richard Pena is the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Director of the New York Film Festival, and an Associate Professor of Film at Columbia University, where he specializes in film theory and international cinema.
Lilly Rivlin
Lilly Rivlin, a 7th generation Jerusalemite, has worked as a journalist, writer, and filmmaker for the last 35 years both internationally and in the U.S. Most recently she consults to foundations on Middle East politics, Jewish Affairs, Non-violent conflict resolution and Gender Issues.
An active feminist, Lilly is one of the founders of the original Feminist Seder, a ritual maker, and serves on several Boards: International Committee of Women of the Wall, Meretz USA, The Counseling Center for Women in Israel.
Rokaya Sabbah
Born in 1982 in the Arab village of Tur'an, Israel, Graduated form "Camera Obscura" School of Arts in Tel-Aviv, majoring in directing and screenplay writing. In 2004 directed the Making Of "Paradise Now" and recently finished directing a 52 Documentary "On hold" supported by The New Israeli Film Fund & The Second Authority For TV & Radio. Currently working on her first feature film "Till The Moon Sets" which is developed with the support of The Israeli Film Fund.
Jackie Salloum
Born and raised in suburban Michigan, Salloum began her current project, Slingshot Hip Hop, a feature-length documentary chronicling the lives of Palestinian rappers in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel, in the summer of 2003. During this same period, she completed Planet of the Arabs, a video art critique of Hollywood's representation of Arabs and Muslims that went on to garner her the "Best Editor" award at the Cinematexas film festival and a 2005 Sundance Film Festival official selection. The anxiously anticipated Slingshot Hip Hop, now in post-production, has already brought the voices of her young subjects to concert audiences in Amsterdam, Ireland, New York City, and San Francisco and to the tens of thousands of people who have watched the trailer on-line.
Stephen D. Shapiro
Steve is the Executive Director of the American Friends of The Center for Jewish - Arab Economic Developement, a member of the Inter Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues and is active in UJC on Israeli Arabs matters. Among his many activities to promote equality for Arab citizens of Israel, he served as the Executive Director and Board Chair of Givat Haviva Educational Foundation.
He was a member of the International Board of Governors of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and President of the New Metropolitan Region of American Technion Society. He held a Leading Professorship and was a department chair at Stony Brook University. He has a doctorate in engineering from Columbia University. Much of his efforts are focussed on economic development and employment for the benefit of the Israeli Arab community.
Bilal Yousef
Born in the town of Dabbourieh in 1979. After graduating Communication & Cinema studies at Emek Ha'Yarden division of Ben Gurion University in 2002, Bilal worked as a correspondent of Ma'ariv, one of Israel's leading daily newspapers, as well as coordinated and supervised numerous social and educational film projects.
Bilal's first full-length documentary film "Crossing Borders" (2007) was named Best Documentary in The Spirit of Freedom category of the 2007 Jerusalem International Film Festival and is the winner of the OTHER ISRAEL AWARD.
