Najwa Najjar’s film to open London Palestine Film Festival

Given its rather difficult circumstances and a population barely that of an average-sized city in the United States, Palestine has had a rather impressive run at the Academy Awards of late. Last year, Hany Abu-Assad’s West Bank thriller Omar was among the final five competing in the Foreign Language category, while the year before Emad Burnat’s 5 Broken Cameras narrowly missed out among the documentaries. And in 2005, it was Abu-Assad again with Paradise Now.

Should everything go according to plan, 2015’s jaunt down the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles could feature a nominee from Palestine for the third time in as many years. But Najwa Najjar, director of the Palestinian Foreign Language selection Eyes of a Thief, coming with financial support from the Dubai Film Connection, admits she faces an uphill struggle in the quest to get her film noticed by the all-important Academy voters.

“Everyone else has money from their governments to help support their campaigns,” she says, adding that such a campaign could cost anything from US$30,000 (Dh110,199) to $100,000. “But we have a country that doesn’t have any money for cinema.”

Najjar, whose first feature Pomegranates & Myrrh had its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2008 and was hugely well received at festivals around the world, has been trying to raise money to help create a buzz, host screenings and – ultimately – ensure the Academy members watch Eyes of a Thief.

Original article by Alex Ritman

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Najwa Najjar’s film to open London Palestine Film Festival