In conjunction with the second edition of the Boston Palestine Film Festival, taking place October 4 – 12, the Harvard Film Archive is pleased to co-present this program of documentaries and short films.

The cinema holds powerful potential for Palestinians as a means to witness their situation and present it to the world. The short film The Shooter reveals how accustomed the world has become to images of violence from the region. Much of the work in this program seeks a way out of this impasse through a critique of existing conventions and a search for new kinds of expression, from the avant-garde recycling of found footage (Jerusalem, the Adulterous Wife) to the clever use of pop editing and visual strategies seen mostly on television (Around). If The Roof is located at the intersection of non-fiction cinema and the art film, 33 Days and To See If I’m Smiling expertly revisit documentary conventions—direct cinema and the first-person interview, respectively—with powerful results. The program includes the familiar name of Mai Masri, whose films have shown at the HFA in the past, as well as two emerging young Palestinian filmmakers: Kamal Aljafari and Mohanad Yaqubi.

Full festival listings are available at www.bostonpalestinefilmfest.org