Rethink Rebuild Society is pleased to invite you to a screening of the film:
Paradise Now
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Where: RR Multi-facility room, Unit 7, Longsight Business Park, Hamilton Road, Manchester, M13 0PD
When: Sunday 20 March, 6:30 pm.
NB. Please arrive on time as the film will start at 6:45 pm exactly.
Runtime: 90min. In Arabic with English subtitle.
Certificate: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material and brief strong language. For more information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445620/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg#certif...
The screening will be followed by a short discussion in English.
Tea, coffee and biscuits are also provided. Donations encouraged to cover our expenses (£1 per person).
The film:
Is it possible that a film can help us to understand, yes, even walk in the shoes of a Palestinian “suicide bomber”?
The first Palestinian film to be nominated for the Oscars, and the winner of a Golden Globe of the Best Foreign Language Film, Paradise Now tells the story of Said and Khaled, two Palestinians who, eager to do their bit for the liberation of Palestine, volunteer to become “suicide bombers”. Their moment has come. After recording a "martyr's video" and being congratulated by the brigade's leader, they are turned into human bombs and sent on their mission of death. Things soon go wrong, however.
In Paradise Now, death is seen as a valid alternative to a life of continued suffering and humiliation. Although there are references made to the Koran and to Muslim practices, Said and Khalad are not religious men. They are ready to lay down their lives for their country and that is all there is to it. Suha, on the other hand, has strong feelings about the wrongness of suicide bombings. She does not believe that they accomplish anything: in fact, they worsen the situation for all Palestinians who are yearning for peace and freedom. Paradise Now challenges all of us to ponder in our hearts the meaning of the sacredness of life and the plight of those who are pushed so far into a corner that they actually are willing to die rather than to suffer any longer.
“As a Palestinian director, Hany Abu-Assad fully recognized he was stepping into a political minefield. By making a feature film about “suicide bombers”, he risked being accused either of glorifying “terrorism” or of betraying resistance to the Israeli occupation. The solution he found was to tell the story of "Paradise Now" as realistically as possible, but from a human point of view.” (New York Times).
So come along to watch a must-see film and take part in a thought-provoking discussion on what constitutes the highest value, life or freedom?
