Big title, big movies, big impact.

UCSB's very own Israeli Palestinian Film Festival grew out of a tiny film club that met weekly to watch and discuss the latest and classics of Israeli cinema. Looking for a way to dive into the societies of Israel, beyond the news and the surface facts, was the main purpose for many of the club's initial members. Many had a solid understanding of Israeli history and current events, while many others were completely new to the culture and just looking for an approachable angle.

Whatever the cause, the club spawned a similar chapter when founder Herschel Colbert arrived in Santa Barbara. While not the film major or film buff he is often thought to be, Herschel took a liking to the window into daily life that films can bring and the healthy environment that UCSB fosters for debate and the Middle East. He wanted to show fellow students "the real Israel" that he lived in, not the one spoken of by both news media and university professors.

Israeli Palestinian Film Club joined forces with several on campus organizations and departments in Spring quarter 2007 to bring to UCSB the world's first and only festival dedicated to both Israeli and Palestinian cinema. The first festival spanned an entire quarter and had highlights of the composer and ensemble of the film West Bank Story and a powerful visit by director Eytan Fox and his film Walk on Water. Now planned and run by a student committee, the festival enters its third year and we are determined to make it even better.

Featured Films - 2009

Waltz with Bashir Waltz with Bashir - One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life.

Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images …

Strangers Strangers - Described as the story of a globe-trotting, Israeli Romeo who meets a Palestinian Juliet, Strangers puts love to the test in time of war. Eyal, an Israeli kibbutznik, and Rana, an expat Palestinian living in Paris, visit Berlin for the 2006 World Cup finals where they’re forced to share an apartment after accidentally swapping backpacks. Over three intensive days their friendship turns to love as they’re drawn out of the stark reality of their lives and into a passionate affair as the second Israel-Lebanon war plays out. When it’s time to go home, they must decide where to go to from there. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema – Dramatic) at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Wolgin Award for Most Promising Actress at the Jerusalem Film Festival and was nominated for Best Actor at the Israeli Film Academy.

Salt of This Sea Salt of This Sea - Soraya (played by Suheir Hammad) , born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Stubborn, passionate and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of “returning” to Palestine. Slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own internal anger. She meets Emad (Saleh Bakri), a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it’s illegal.