Flying Paper Premieres at London Palestine Film Festival on May 7, 2013

Posted by on Mar 26, 2013 in Featured Articles | One Comment
Preview of Flying Paper: Palestinian children striving to break the Guinness World Record on July 29, 2010.

Preview of Flying Paper: Palestinian children striving to break the Guinness World Record on July 29, 2010.

We are delighted to have Flying Paper premiere at the London Palestine Film Festival. The film will be screened at the Barbican Cinema 3 on May 7, 2013 at 8:15pm, with an introduction by Executive Producer Uzma Hasan.

The 2013 London Palestine Film Festival brings together 38 works by Palestinian and international artists working in almost every moving image genre. http://www.palestinefilm.org/festivals.asp

Productions both from and upon Palestine have been increasing in number and expanding in the diversity of their forms and themes during recent years. This year’s programme reflects this breadth, with quality work across a spectrum of genres on show at 23 events over the festival’s 13 days. Fiction fans will find striking new animations and dramas rubbing shoulders with historic treats and bold experimental works. Documentary enthusiasts can indulge in a wealth of Premieres, with works on subjects ranging from cuisine to architecture, from ghosts to jokes, and from kite-flying to stone-quarrying.

The festival opens with a Gala Screening of David Koff’s 1981 masterwork Occupied Palestine, a rare chance to experience this vital work of political documentary in the company of the director. Other historic highlights include Elia Suleiman’s debut short Homage by Assassination, which appears as part of the 1991 portmanteau The Gulf War… What Next?, and a special thematic session marking the 25th anniversary of the first intifada. New work is prominent too, with more than 20 films premiering at this year’s festival; these include a topical new doc on life in the Syrian Golan heights (Apples of the Golan), a stunning portrait of kite culture in the Gaza Strip (Flying Paper), and a wealth of new shorts from Palestine and beyond.

Flying Paper documents a spectacular quest by Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip to break the Guinness World Record for the most kites ever flown. Co-produced with young Palestinians trained by the filmmakers through a youth media programme (Voices Beyond Walls), the film celebrates the creative resilience of children facing extraordinary hardship in their daily lives.

Scored by the co-director’s namesake, Nitin Sawhney, the film combines animated sequences with breathtaking footage of the record-breaking bid and moving portrayals of the film’s protagonists. A captivating journey into Gaza’s fascinating kite culture, Flying Paper is borne aloft by the playful humour and indomitable spirit of the kite flyers themselves.

Festival listing and trailer: http://www.palestinefilm.org/resources.asp?film_id=322