20 Handshakes for Peace

2013 | Germany, Palestine | directed by Mahdi Fleifel | 3 min | language: English

September 13, 1993: Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Bill Clinton’s handshake on the lawn of the White House after signing the Oslo Accords. A historic moment, repeated 20 times. Tainted by countless shattered hopes and with a voice-over by intellectual Edward Said, expressing his outrage at the agreement.

I Signed the Petition

2018 | Germany, Switzerland, UK | directed by Mahdi Fleifel | 10 min | language: English with English subtitles

The dark comical tone of the friendly conversation in Mahdi Fleifel’s I Signed the petition sheds light on an apparently neurotic condition following the director's public support of the cultural boycott of Israel.

Fix Me

2009 | Palestine, France | directed by Raed Andoni | 1h 38 min | language: Arabic with English subtitles

Turning the camera on himself, Palestinian filmmaker Raed Andoni goes on a journey to uncover the root of his severe headache in the brilliant Fix Me, revealing the absurdity and the stressful conditions of living under occupation through personal and philosophical conversations with his therapist, family and friends.

Raed Andoni (b. 1967) is a Palestinian filmmaker and producer based in Paris who has been working in independent cinema since 1997. He co-founded Dar Films, a production company based in Ramallah. In 2008, he co-founded Les Films de Zayna, a Paris-based production company. His first feature documentary as a director, Improvisation (2006) has screened in various international festivals. Fix Me (2010) has premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won several awards in international and Arab film festivals. Ghost Hunting (2017) has premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, winning the Best Documentary Award and the Audience Award.

Mahdi Fleifel (b. 1979) is a Danish filmmaker of Palestinian origin. Born in Dubai, he was raised in the Ain El-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon and later in the suburbs of Elsinore, Denmark. He began filmmaking at an early age, a hobby he picked up from his father’s obsession with video cameras. Fleifel studied at the NFTS (National Film and Television School) in England under directors Udayan Prasad, Ian Sellar and Stephen Frears. His first year film Arafat & I (2008) screened in many international festivals and won prizes in Romania, Italy and the Czech Republic. In 2010 Fleifel and Irish producer Patrick Campbell set up the London-based production company Nakba FilmWorks.

The program series Suspended Presents, Stolen Futures: Sci-Fi, Humor and Nostalgia in New Arab Cinema is curated by filmmaker Mira Adoumier and head of program at Kunstnernes Hus Cinema Silja Espolin Johnson and supported by the Norwegian Film Institute.

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