The South East branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) will be hosting a screening of ‘The Wanted 18’ movie in Wexford Artists Hub, located in the Arts HUB premises on Mallin Street, Wexford, on Saturday 11^th May at 8pm to commemorate Palestinian Nakba Day.

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A part live action, part animated documentary directed by Palestinian Amer Shomali and Canadian Paul Cowan, the film has won several prestigious awards and been shown around the world. Set in 1987, the film brings to life the story of the non-violent resistance of the First Intifada when a group of farmers and their cows become perceived as a ‘threat’ to Israel’s national security. The film is funny in parts, poignant in others, but always thought provoking.

Nakba Day is marked annually by Palestinians and their supporters around the world on 15^th May, and commemorates the violent dispossession by Israeli-Zionist forces of over 750,000 Palestinians and their expulsion from their homeland during the 1947-49 Nakba (Arabic for ‘Catastrophe’). The state of Israel – declared on 14^th May 1948 – was built upon this ethnic cleansing of two thirds of Palestine’s indigenous population. Forced into exile in refugee camps in neighbouring these Palestinians have never been allowed to return to their homeland by Israel. On Nakba Day we demand that the UN mandated right of return for these refugees is respected, protected and enacted by the international community.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has manybranches around the country, who all work to highlight the history and current events which are affecting Palestinians and to campaign on issues which the people of Palestine need brought to the fore. The current focus of many of the groups around the world working in solidarity with Palestine is the call for a Boycott of the Eurovision Song contest, due to take place in Tel Aviv this May. Holding this event in Israel further legitimises and whitewashes the atrocities and injustices committed by the State of Israel, and will further encroach on the rights of Palestinians who suffer daily under the brutal and oppressive regime.

About the Film

Through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews, The Wanted 18 recreates an astonishing true story: the Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared “a threat to the national security of the state of Israel.” In response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, a group of people from the town of Beit Sahour decide to buy 18 cows and produce their own milk as a co-operative. Their venture is so successful that the collective farm becomes a landmark, and the cows local celebrities—until the Israeli army takes note and declares that the farm is an illegal security threat. Consequently, the dairy is forced to go underground, the cows continuing to produce their “Intifada milk” with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit. Recreating the story of the “wanted 18” from the perspectives of the Beit Sahour activists, Israeli military officials, and the cows, Palestinian artist Amer Shomali and veteran Canadian director Paul Cowan create an enchanting, inspirational tribute to the ingenuity and power of grassroots activism.

Filmmaker(s):  Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan

Country of Production:  Canada/Palestine/France

Year: 2014

75m

Language(s):  In English and Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles

Genre: Documentary

Filmmaker Bio(s):

Amer Shomali

Director

Amer Shomali is a Palestinian artist and worked as multimedia designer at Birzeit University and ZAN Studio in Ramallah, Palestine. He uses art and technology to design posters, political cartoons and short animation to support local and international political campaigns and open local social debates.