The Faculty of Media Organizes the 8th Documentary Film Festival at the University
08 December 2010
December 8th 2010. In cooperation with the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Faculty of Media at the University organized the 8th Documentary Film Festival for the year 2010. The Festival was organized as part of a UN project titled "Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality: Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals Program".
.JPG)
Attendees included Prof. Maher Abu Eid, University Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Farid Abu Dheer, the Director of the Population Communication Project, representatives of the UNFPA and the Palestinian Initiative as well as a number of students from the Faculty of Media and other faculties at the University.
At the beginning of the Festival Dr. Abu Dheer welcomed the participants and said that the event is of importance to the students and their teachers since it focused on the students' achievements and projects. Prof. Abu Eid said that the University is committed to its mission to support the Faculty of Media and its students and that it works on developing the different facilities it contains. He added that the University has recently transformed the Department of Journalism into an independent faculty and introduced the Media Center.
.JPG)
Ahmed Othman, a student from the Faculty of Media who represented the participating students, said in his speech that the Festival was a real chance for young journalists to develop their potentials and skills while still studying at the University. He considered it as an opportunity for him and his colleagues to present their projects and reveal their skills and the ideas that they included in their films. He finally thanked the University and the Faculty of Media for supporting the students of media and journalism.
The Festival included ten documentary films that addressed several issues related to the Palestinian situation, the Palestinian reality and the suffering of people under the Israeli occupation, violence against women, poverty and its impact on children and their dreams, addiction to drugs and its impact on young people, as well as women's work in different professions and their determination to gain status and recognition in the work field.
.JPG)
The films included one titled "Why" which discussed the issue of violence against women, "We Once Had a Sea" which described how a large population in Palestine was deprived from going to the sea because of the Israeli siege and limitation on movement, "A Bitter News" which told the story of a pregnant journalist who tried to shed light on a Palestinian family that lives in extreme poverty, "An Addict Brother" which told the story of a young man who killed his brother while under the influence of drugs, in addition to other films that the students made. At the end of the Festival an honoring ceremony was organized for the participating students and the institutions that supported them.
