April 24, 2008

I Remember 1948

On Tuesday, May 13, at 11.45 pm, SBS Television is showing the half-hour documentary, I Remember 1948, to mark the 60th anniversary of what is known by Palestinians as "Al Nakba" or " the catastrophe" -- when three quarters of a million people fled for their lives, never to return.

This event, in which villages were seized to enlarge the recently-created state of Israel, is widely acknowledged to be at the centre of much that is happening in the Middle East today.

I Remember 1948 is Australia's first bilingual Arabic/English film. Made by young Arab Australians as a labour of love, it is a gentle, non-polemical documentary in which four elders give vivid eye-witness accounts of the tumultuous days of Al Nakba and its aftermath.

The Palestinian refugees tell poignant stories, unexpected and sometimes surprising, expressing not only the tragedies but also the small miracles which occur in a human catastrophe of such dimensions.

Prevented from returning to their homes, the speakers lived as refugees, eventually making their way to Australia. Their continued longing to see their homeland eloquently expresses the feelings of the dispossessed everywhere and gives this film a universal dimension.

Directed by young Arab experimental filmmaker, Fadia Abboud, I Remember 1948 is stylistically innovative while maintaining a simple, direct form of address.

Its abstract backgrounds gently evoke mood and place, as does the powerful music for oud, cello, violin and percussion of Joseph Tawadros, the young 2006 winner of the prestigious Freedman Fellowship.

A study guide for the film, suitable for people from upper primary age to adults, will be available shortly. Registered libraries and schools are permitted to copy the film off air or it can be ordered from the website.