2017 FCP’s closing : the acknowledgments

Third Annual Edition of the Festival Ciné-Palesitine :

Acknowledgments

The Festival Ciné-Palestine in collaboration with its organizing committee and the Association du Festival du Film Palestinien à Paris expresses its immense gratitude to all those who have contributed to make this third annual festival a true success.

The committee extends its heartfelt thanks to the artists, who have honored us by their presence, and who have taken the time to present their works and meet with the public during the Festival: Raed Andoni, Mohammad Bakri, Mohammad Khattab, Raed Kattab, Omar Dabboor, Wadee Hanani, Ahmad Saleh, Kais Al Zubaidi, Baha' Abu Shanab, Thaer Al Azzeh, Nidal Bardany, Fadi Idris, Darin J. Sallam, Alaa Ashkar, Reem Shilleh and Kassem Hawal.

We have been honored to receive the support of May Odeh, Garance Clavel, Emilie Dudognon, Salim Abu Jabal and Mohammad Bakri, as distinguished members of the jury of the very first Short Film Competition in FCP’s history.

The organizing committee sends a special thought to Areej Abu Eid and Alaa Al Desoki, Mahmoud Abu Ghalwa and Amer Nasser, artists who have been denied the right to leave Rafah due to blockades imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt. We admire their resilience, and sincerely hope that we will see them during our future festivals.

Many musicians have responded positively to FCP’s invitation, which has been greatly appreciated by our public. We would like to thank Missy Ness, SAMA', 47SOUL - with Al Far3i, Walaa Sbeit, Z to the People and Al Jehaz-, Naïssam Jalal & Osloob and their musicians, as well as DJ SOTUSURA.

We also address a special thank you to Checkpoint 303, who generously donated the use of their soundtrack Gaza Soumoud Remix (2015), which provided wonderful music for the third film festival’s teaser.

We thank everyone who has enthusiastically taken part and contributed to this Festival, and helped us turn it into an enriching opportunity to discuss and embrace Palestinian cinema: Denis Sieffert, Assia Zaino, Alain Gresh, Houda Ibrahim, Halah Abdallah, Anaïs Farine, Melanie Simon-Franza, Sarah Katz and Pierre Stamboul.

True to its beginnings, FCP remains above all a great collective and human adventure. The committee offers a big thank you to our 22 partners, including cinemas, the Press, associations and institutions, who believe in us and have supported and accompanied us in setting up this year’s festival.

The success of this third edition of the festival relies mainly on the generous support we have received from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), to whom we are very grateful. Also thanks go out to the Fondation Un Monde par tous (Fondation de France) and the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development (CCFD-Terre Solidaire), our two other major supporters.

We acknowledge the precious support received from the Aubervilliers and Saint-Denis Town Halls, as well as the French Consulate in Jerusalem.

We would also like to thank our media partners Politis, Mediapart, Ballast, Orient XXI, Fumigene, ONORIENT, Palestine Media Agency, Saphir News and Le Courrier de l’Atlas, who have offered us their precious media coverage, in the lead up to and during the event.

Yet again this year we have been able to rely on the unlimited support and professionalism provided by the venues: Luminor Hotel de Ville, Les 3 Luxembourg, Le Méliès, Ecran and Le Studio. FCP has assumed its place and reputation as a major Parisian cultural event and we intend to find the same niche in its surrounding districts. We extend our thanks to our partners who have made this possible and appreciate their open approach.

Finally, we thank all our partner associations, Les Amis d’Al Rowwad, AFPS Paris Centre, Union Juive Française pour la Paix (UJFP), Voyageur cinema, Association de l’Autre Champ, Enfants de Palestine as well as our Palestinian partners, Idiom Films and Odeh Film.

The success of FCP relies on the hard work and dedication of many volunteers, who have worked nonstop with the organizing committee for many months to prepare the festival, and especially during the ten-day long festival itself, to offer an event to the public of a quality equal to Palestinian cinema. We also acknowledge the efforts and work of our photographers and video makers who are responsible for immortalizing the highlights and the shared moments, which are the milestones of this ten-day long FCP 2017.

A special mention must be made of the colossal work of the team in charge of translation and sub-titles of the films. Starting well in advance, these volunteers have had the laborious task of translating from Arabic to French and writing sub-titles for 13 films, that is more than nine hours of film. Some of them then worked as interpreters during the festival to accompany the artists and ensure that exchanges with the public ran smoothly. We congratulate them for their patience, dedication and professionalism.

Again this year, our crowdfunding campaign to raise funds was more than successful and went well beyond our expectations. We are indebted to the 93 donors who support us. This generosity is once again our second source of fundraising, which in particular pays for the distribution rights of some of the films programmed and finances some of the travel arrangements for the film-makers that you have met.

Finally, FCP cannot forget its public to whom we address our warmest appreciation. For the third consecutive year, our Festival has welcomed a loyal and enthusiastic public whose numbers continue to grow, again well beyond our expectations. Thank you for the amazing turnout at this annual event which celebrates and will celebrate for many years to come our mutual passion for Palestinian cinema. We all share the success of this 3rd film festival, which reaps the benefits of all the converging energies which have brought FCP to life.

We are all very excited at the prospect of organizing the 4th Palestinian Film Festival in Paris in 2018, which promises to be even more ambitious and exceptional. In the meantime, it will be our pleasure to see you again throughout the year in Paris and its surrounding districts at our film-club events.

Organizing Committee FCP 2017.