Origin: USA Palestine | Documentary | Director: Jessica Habie & Nirah Shirazipour | 44 minutes

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Beyond Blue and Grey

Jessica Habie

Beyond Blue and Gray investigates creative life under occupation. How do
the continual cycles of violence, curfew and movement restrictions affect
the artists color choice, language or treatment of subject? How can a
Palestinian artist protect his or her work from the stereotypes of politics
and the poetic ravages of war?

The Dialogue Project Our films deal with trying to understand the Israeli
Palestinian conflict in new ways, through the lens of the artist. Inspiring
global dialogue in times of stagnant political rhetoric with a renewed
dedication to all of mankind. Everyone knows, if we can accomplish peace in
Jerusalem, we can cultivate justice anywhere. One of the main reasons we
created theses film projects was to use them as tools to facilitate
dialogue in Europe and the United States about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. It is our hope that our work will make connections between
organizations and individuals working around similar issues globally. It is
extremely important that Jews, Israelis, Arabs and Moslems living in the
international Diaspora communicate often and honestly because dialogue
between these groups living in the Middle East has become very painful and
often problematic. We must support our family in the Middle East and let
them feel that we won't remain silent while they continue to suffer.
'Beyond Blue and Gray' is a look at the relationship between conflict and
creativity in Palestine. Why Two Films? Beyond Blue and Gray's sister
project, Art and Apathy People often ask us, as filmmakers who are working
towards reconciliation and justice for Israel and Palestine, why did we
chose to create two separate film projects, rather than housing all of our
artists under one roof. The answer is difficult and took many years of work
to understand. Unfortunately, at this time, artwork (especially by
international artists) that aims to bring together Israeli and Palestinian
voices is often doing more harm than good. Bringing Israeli and Palestinian
artists together to co-create in a project, gives the illusion that
dialogue, peace and reconciliation can flourish in today's political
atmosphere. The opposite is true. The cruelty of the military and political
powers in the region makes such ideas completely unattainable. We felt that
it is important to discuss reality as experienced by Israelis and
Palestinians living in the Middle East today. This way international
audiences can appreciate a more humanistic depiction of the conflict, and
begin to ask themselves what they are doing to support the cycles of
violence.

Another reason why we have separated our films is because Israelis and
Palestinians have never been so segregated. There is a complete separation
of societies, historical narratives and cultures. For this reason we chose
to present a diverse range of opinions and personalities rather than asking
our audience to accept one unified voice. We ask our audience to hold space
for several voices, as we begin to understand that several narratives
exist, several complex histories have brought us to this point and it is
absolutely impossible to hold one persons truth higher than another's.
However, it is equally important to understand that although we are talking
about two complex histories, there is only one occupation. The occupation
must end in order for freedom to grow, and a stable way of life to replace
checkpoints, ammunition, fear and death. Lastly, out of respect for all of
the artists who trusted us with their stories we decided it was best to
create two separate series of short films. Each series stands alone,
holding space for the artists and their creations, allowing the audience to
draw their own conclusions about the relationship between Israel and
Palestine. It was important to us that both groups of artists feel safe to
express their stories truthfully. In order to ensure that safety, we had to
allow the both communities of artists to have their own cinematic spaces.

Trailer: https://eyesinfinite.com/films/ (scroll down on page)

Full movie::
http://vimeo.com/53920793

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View trailer