Screening Very Early Rough Cut

Marhaba min masr,

From a few weeks ago...

Filming ended July 20th just a few days before my visa for Israel ran out. After two weeks of real vacation in Damascus and Lebanon I am now back in Egypt. Since August 8th I have been holed up in Saint Kathrin’s where my lovely sister Jeannette lives and works. Associate Producer Iris Ichishtia and I have been locked away in what we claim to be the first state of the art studio of its kind in these mountains.



After almost two weeks of editing we had the first screening of a rough-cut version of the film. The location was an arched, roofless building still under construction that is part of the project Jeannette is working on here.



The workers who had been working on the site during the day were the first to fill our small open-air theatre space. Next to show up were a herd of children who probably were expecting a cartoon, not a film about Palestinian non-violent resistance. After some technical difficulties the screening was a great success with Bedouins, Egyptians and some foreigners in the audience to make up an audience of about 50. A lively discussion followed the screening that provided Iris and me some critical questions and comments to consider as we try to wrap up this stage of post-production.



We have two days left here in the mountains before heading back to Cairo. Hopefully by the end of the month we will have the film “picture-locked”- this I am told is film talk for having the actual footage and sequence of the film set in stone. Then begins the long process of setting the film’s score, color correction, recording narration, working on subtitles in various languages and working out a strategy to get this film screened in film festivals, then hopefully on TV, then eventually to tour with it in universities, schools, cafes, churches, mosques, synagogues, bookstores, whatever- please do send me suggestions and contacts of people who would be interested or would help.