Alternative Information Center

He directed several short films, including The Mountain (1992) that won 2 Grand Prix. In 1997 he directed and produced the Israeli/Palestinian co-production of Children's Television Workshop of Sesame Street (CTW, New York).
Then from 1998-1999, he worked for the United Nations on a series of promotional films on democracy and women rights in Palestine. His first full length film is The Olive Harvest.

About The Mountain:
When a beauty from Galilee catches the eye of a young farmer from Gaza on market day love may be an inevitable consequence. But in Hanna Elias' film al-Jabal (The Mountain), the course of true love is complicated by tradition. Tradition decrees that decent young women submit to marriage arrangements made by the family; a disobedient girl
shames a good name. Insaff has been promised by her father to another man and the price of her rebellious love for 'Ali may well be death. Like the ageless mountain which stands as guardian of their village, tradition casts its shadow across countless lives. And just as few possess the courage to challenge the stones, few are those who will
challenge time honoured customs. The Mountain is a story about their courage, the courage of young lovers to resist an arranged marriage and the courage of older women to weigh the price of love and stand against tradition so that a young woman may freely choose the man with whom she will spend her life. The Mountain is a fascinating film which explores Palestinian community life apart from the shadow of Israeli occupation and tells a poignant story of the bond between generations.

About The Olive Harvest:
Upon his release from an Israeli prison, older brother Mazen ( Mazen Saade ) develops romantic feelings for his childhood friend, Raeda (Raeda Adun ). However, Raeda is already engaged to Mazen's younger brother Taher ( Taher Najeeb ), their love kept a secret because of the tradition for the eldest brother to wed first. The two brothers become estranged soon after reuniting as they struggle to win over Raeda's heart. Mazen, with his romantic poetry and simple love for the olive groves that provide his community and family with their livelihood, shares in Raeda's dreams to remain in the village and harvest the olives. Taher, on the other hand, prefers to live in the city and ambitiously seeks to contain the growing Jewish settlement of the territories as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Counsel. Although his love for Raeda is strong, Taher's devotion toward this cause leads him to neglect his commitment to her. Unsure of her true feelings, the beautiful Raeda is forced into making a decision by the feuding brothers and by her authoritative father.
Each of the three central characters find themselves painfully torn between conflicting choices in this tale of love and loyalty to family, to those that they love, and to the land that they are connected to. More than a mere love story, The Olive Harvest explores the dynamics of human relationships - between brother and brother, woman and man, father and daughter, sister and sister, and person to land.

The AICafe is open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm. It is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq a Shaab square (follow the sign to Jadal Center) We have a small library with both novels and political books and magazines.
Phone number; 02 2775444