![Image by Daniel Nienhuis
Film Review: Flying Paper
By Aisha Gani
The silhouette of a child flying a homemade kite while running down a sandy path in the soft glow of the sun, and the voice of a young woman narrating a poem in Arabic sets the tone of this uplifting documentary. Flying Paper follows the journey of Palestinian children in the Gaza strip attempting to break the world record for the most kites flown. [[MORE]] Directed by Nitin Sawhney and Roger Hill, the film documents the Gazan kite culture and projects the voice of Gazans who, despite being amongst the most affected by the conflict between Palestine and Israel, frequently go unheard.
Musa, the charismatic 13 year old protagonist, starts preparing for the kite festival and constructs a kite on the dusty ground using newspaper and a flour glue concoction, under the watchful eyes of his impressionable and adorable band of younger cousins.
“There are two important factors in making a kite. The first is precision. The second thing is to balance the string very carefully,” Musa says with confidence. As he launches his kite, it gets tangled in an electric pole, and he is teased by his witty younger sister Widad, who says she can make a better one. Their sibling rivalry and light-hearted banter makes the film all the more enjoyable to watch, and it humanises Gaza.
The Al Ghouls live in the village of Seifa, which is in the northern buffer zone with Israel, and the children later take their colourful kites to the beach, flying them in the backdrop of a twilight sky. Widad reflects, “When we fly kites, we feel like we’re the ones flying in the sky. We feel that we enjoy our freedom. That there is no siege on Gaza.” As she watches the kites dancing with the crescent moon she adds, “When we fly that kite, we know that freedom exists”. These philosophising youngsters are wiser beyond their years, and discuss their experience of conflict honestly and frankly.
There are several story lines throughout the film, and we are introduced to the Jabaliya refugee camp through 16 year-old Abeer, an aspiring journalist. She is the narrator and instrumental in the production team. She speaks openly about her goals including her passion for photography, but also the possible challenges she faces in pursuing her career. Through the children’s eyes we are shown the struggles that Gazans face daily, whether it is attending school, fishing, dealing with broken shoes, or the lingering fear of missiles and military vehicles passing by.
Much of the documentary is filmed in the glow of the late afternoon sun, which adds much warmth. Yet this is juxtaposed with intervals of dark animation, which is used as a vehicle to represent the entrapment and dangerous reality of living in Gaza. The childlike crayon drawings and eerie soundtrack make it more ominous, and we follow the journey of a resilient kite that encounters and escapes several traumatic obstacles, including four grey walls slowly imprisoning it and coming across a sea monster. This is a heart-warming and hopeful documentary, but these segments remind us that there are watchtowers, checkpoints and military jeeps around the corner.
The day of the kite festival arrives. We see close up shots of the children with cheeky smiles and bright eyes on the coach to Waha Beach, lining up in the sand with their kites in hand, the Mediterranean Sea and blue summer sky. Meanwhile, Musa has been working on a bigger and better kite, even attaching a camera to film the event from the heavens, encapsulating his determination. Over 7000 children are on the beach as they try and break the world record of kite flying. Musa looks up at all the fluttering kites above and says, “Is there anything better, than seeing something this beautiful?”
This is an important film with stunning cinematography and the fact children are central to the narrative and production of this film make it all the more special. The playful yet reflective spirit of Musa, Widad, Abeer and the other children of Gaza in this film leaves the viewer with a feeling of bittersweet. Much of what we hear and see on the news about Gaza is that it is a warzone, so this is a unique film, and a rare opportunity to see life in blockaded Gaza through the eyes and beating spirits of the children of Gaza. Ultimately Flying Paper leaves you smiling with hope.
www.flyingpaper.org
Flying Paper premiered at the 2013 London Palestine Film Festival](http://25.media.tumblr.com/c32f96a51f4908e1d14f764ef38f36ac/tumblr_mmt2290PKj1rx2fx5o1_r2_500.png)
Image by Daniel Nienhuis
Film Review: Flying Paper
By Aisha Gani
The silhouette of a child flying a homemade kite while running down a sandy path in the soft glow of the sun, and the voice of a young woman narrating a poem in Arabic sets the tone of this uplifting documentary. Flying Paper follows the journey of Palestinian children in the Gaza strip attempting to break the world record for the most kites flown.
![Progress in Work: An Artist Residency
By Reena Makwana
Between Thursday 4th April 2013 and Sunday 7th April 2013 I took part in the residency ‘Progress in Work III’ curated by Extra Bones founder Andrew Kerr at Utrophia in Deptford. [[MORE]] I worked alongside artists Tim Spooner and Stephen Fowler and the concept of storytelling loosely connected our practice during the weekend. Thursday was our launch night intended as an introduction to the residency and I took this opportunity to collect stories for the project I had planned to explore during this time.
In meetings and correspondence prior to the residency, we discussed possible work we could create during the residency. We were encouraged to produce work that would involve working with the space and perhaps have input from the public. I named my sub-project within the residency ‘Good Stories’ and asked people to draw or write a ‘good story’ about Deptford or something positive they experienced in Deptford. I then spent Friday and Saturday stitching the stories on a large piece of cloth and encouraging visitors to submit more stories.
I produced eight small embroideries on a piece of cloth, choosing to work in black and white to create uniformity between the stories. Usually my work inspired by an area is more as an observer – I draw people going about their daily routine during walks, building up a visual map of people through coloured embroideries. This project meant being more a ‘curator’ of stories and exploring an area through the stories of others. It was a really interesting experience, as we had people popping in to draw, write, print and telling us of their love of Deptford.
www.reenamakwana.com](http://25.media.tumblr.com/f8d0961a0f8ef7d54a26081eed3e95bb/tumblr_mmqqs39xUd1rx2fx5o1_500.jpg)
Progress in Work: An Artist Residency
By Reena Makwana
GIRLS GET BUSY’S BLOG TAKEOVER: OOMK Zine - Day 4
Today OOMK Zine give us some great book recommendations!
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things is the debut novel of Indian writer Arundhati Roy. It is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the “Love Laws” that lay down “who should be loved, and how. And how much.”
King of the Castle. Choice and Responsibility in the Modern World - Charles Le Gai Eaton
This book examines closely many of the unquestioned assumptions by which we live our lives, comparing them with the beliefs that have shaped and guided human life in the past. It begins with a consideration of how secular societies attempt to possess their citizens, body and soul and how, as a consequence, the necessity of redefining human responsibility becomes an ever more urgent imperative.
The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry essays written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf and has never been out of print. It is Gibran’s best known work.
Cosmicomics is a book of short stories by Italo Calvino first published in Italian in 1965 and in English in 1968. Each story takes a scientific “fact”, and builds an imaginative story around it.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of younger brother Christopher “Toph” Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents.
- oomk.net
OOMK contributor Hannah Habibi Hopkin is exhibiting her work in her London studio next week. Details here.
GIRLS GET BUSY BLOG TAKEOVER: OOMK Zine - Day 2
Today OOMK Zine tell us about some of their favourite people:
Gareth Pierce - A lawyer who has worked on many cases with miscarriages of justice. Recently she has been defending several people from our community who have been held for many years without charge.
Rabia Basri - An early Sufi poet and holy woman
Malorie Blackman, OBE - An English author of literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethical issues.
Yara Sharif - A practicing Palestinian architect currently in London engaged in social dialogue and architectural experiments between the Palestine/Israel conflict. Her PHD calls for a much needed international debate on ways to resolve the conflict.
Ella Collins - A self-made businesswoman and civil rights activist, raised her half-brother Malcolm X, gave him money for his pilgrimage to Mecca and took over his black Muslim splinter group after his assassination.
Emmy the Great - London base folk singer who was in Lightspeed with Dev Hynes. She’s Chinese and English and I like how she is creatively involved in both cultures as she works across Hong Kong and London writing for publications and making music. It’s pretty rare to find half east Asian half white types in the media and especially any I can relate to.
Charlie Chaplin - This is a bit of a weird one. I’m not big into films and I like the concentration required for reading silent films. To me Chaplin was a real auteur and visionary and I love how he was obsessively involved in actualizing his goals. He consistently makes comment on class systems as the tramp character and made cinema accessible and artful simultaneously.
Miranda July - I think this is a popular, even an obvious one in our circles, but I really aspire to her approach. She makes human, empathetic actions into artisty. She said:
“I guess my favorite thing in the world is when I look at a piece of art, or read a story, or watch a movie where I walk away feeling like ‘Oh my god — I have to do something, I have to make something or talk to someone — things are not the same anymore’ — and so I try to make work where you come away with that feeling. It’s like, yeah, you’re thinking about what you just saw, but even more than that — you feel able, you feel like, kind of propelled”.I know what she means and I want that too!
Josie Long - A stand up comedian, writer and cartoonist. Maybe another obvious one. She’s probably the London poster girl for DIY. Her energy and enthusiasm is pretty infectious and her podcasts and shows kept me company during some really awfuls days. Her comics are political and sharp and witty too.
Lauren Hill - Talented and thoughtful artist and a spiritual and soulful woman.
The work of artist Ellen Gallagher is both captivating to look at and satisfying to decode. She produces beautifully tactile pieces using found imagery from 50s African-American magazines. Using pictographs, symbols, codes and repetitions Gallegher frequently explores themes related to race.
She is particularly known for customising advertisements for skin-lighteners and other cosmetics products from magazines such as Ebony. By adding blonde hair and white eyes with plasticine she is able to perform her own type of transformations to the models.
An exhibition of Ellen Gallagher’s work is currently showing in London at the Tate Modern (1st May-1st Sep). Visit the website for more details.
Anti-Racism - Anti-War demonstration, 1967.
I love this photo.
Whaddupp!!
Ainee is the FIRST Hijabi to be featured in Seventeen magazine.
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