Time goes by in Jenin. While I’m writing that story, my last day in the Cinema Jenin project has begun. 7 weeks I’ve been here, for some people that might be a long time, however, for me it was like a short film. I spent 50 days as a volunteer in this project and what I lived to see was much more than I expected when I had left Germany. Before I started my journey to the north of the west bank, friends of mine had mentioned: Why Jenin? Isn’t that a quite dangerous place? I was not sure, what I shall answer them. I didn’t’ know so much about Jenin with its approximately 50.000 inhabitants, including the neighboring refugee camp. After staying 7 weeks in the city and according to my experiences, I’m able to answer them: Don’t worry: it’s one of the most comfortable places I’ve ever been with lots of friendly and open minded people.

What I appreciate beyond that was the work in the project itself. Retrospectively, I’ve recognized a deep team building process between local and international members of the Cinema Jenin project. The project has become a melting pot for Palestinians and international volunteers, who have -due the common working process- grown up to one team.

Read the rest of this entry »

(From left to right: Marcus Vetter, the director of ‘Heart of Jenin’ with Matthias Platzeck, Brandenburg’s state prime minister.)

„The cinema is the highlight of my visit here. It is impossible to describe in words how beautiful it is“, says Matthias Platzeck, Prime Minister of the Federal State of Brandenburg, on his visit of „Cinema Jenin“

Jenin- The Prime Minister of the Federal State of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, has visited the project „Cinema Jenin“ in the West Bank today, and was thrilled. „This cinema is more than a regular cinema. It will further peace in this region a good deal“, said Platzeck. He was visibly moved by a 20-minute film trailer, which was shown for the first time to an audience of some 100 Palestinian guests and 20 businessmen from Brandenburg in the same movie theatre that had screened its last film more than 20 years before. The trailer shows the origins of the project „Cinema Jenin“. The film itself will have its worldwide theatrical release in 2011.
Matthias Platzeck took the time for long conversations with Jenin’s governor Qadora Muosa as well as with Marcus Vetter, director and founder of the „Cinema Jenin“ project. „It always takes some crazy people to get something like this off the ground“, he said about the cinema in the West Bank, which will be groundbreaking as a symbol of peace in the region.

Accompanied by businessmen from Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck inaugurated a solar collector (sponsored by the Bosch Group and B5 Solar) for the cinema roof, which will guarantee an ecological and cost-saving energy supply for the cinema’s future. Brandenburg’s main promotional bank ILB has funded the transport of the solar collector with 12.000 Euros. The Prime Minister concluded his visit announcing that he, as well as Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, will sponsor one of the newly restored cinema seats.

Background: „Welcome to Cinema Jenin!“

The work on “Cinema Jenin” began in 2008: The old cinema is planned to become a comprehensive cultural centre in the middle of Jenin. The opening for all Palestinian visitors is scheduled for the first week of August. A large festival with international guests and a selected programme will presumably take place in April 2011. Fakhri Hamad (Jenin), Marcus Vetter (Tübingen, Germany), and Ismail Khatib (Jenin) are the initiators of the project. Fakhri Hamad is also the manager of “Cinema Jenin”.

As last years winner of the “Cinema for Peace Award” for his documentary “Heart of Jenin”, Marcus Vetter together with Fakhri Hamad joined the glamorous “Cinema for Peace Gala” at the Berlinale film festival on February 15th. So we took the opportunity to beat the big drum for “Cinema Jenin” the day after in the Chamäleon Varieté. First being a little worried about how many of the invited guests would come, then happy to see the auditorium almost bursting at the seams. Celebrities from the film business dropped in as well as company representatives and politicians, all curious to hear more about our project. In particular we were pleased about the presence of some representatives of the Israeli embassy.

Fakhri flew in directly from Jenin. Together with Marcus Vetter he explained the idea behind the project and what we reached so far. As our special guest on stage we could welcome Martin Kobler. Previously head of the “Directorate-General for Culture and Communication” in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was one of our main supporters. Thank you so much and good luck for your new job as the deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan!

Read the rest of this entry »

Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin-Mitte is a wonderful place steeped in history, dazzling spotlights and, every now and then, a red carpet for the stars. We, the Cinema-Jenin-Team, were not going to pass up on the chance to promote our cinema in the West Bank there. What better opportunity could there be than the renowned Cinema for Peace Gala?

It took place on February 15th, just a day before our big fund-raising event at the Chamäleon theatre. For those not in the know: Cinema for Peace is a special film event which since 2002 has handed out prizes to international filmmakers dealing critically with social, political and sociological issues in their work. In the words of its initiators: “This prestigious event is a symbol of peace, freedom and tolerance, a symbol with a lasting effect on the world of film and media, initiating important projects and the free exchange of ideas.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Cinema Jenin is coming soon… that was our message at the first press conference we had last week on Wednesday. Meeting place was the German Arab Society in Berlin-Moabit – a part of the Capital that isn’t as noble as one someone acquainted with the area would expect this kind of official première to take place in. But: The place was charming, colourful and exactly that what we wanted! A warm atmosphere, perfect lighting for the ongoing film project and very nice hosts like Mr. Bock and Mrs. Darwisch who made everything go so smooth.

Read the rest of this entry »

The German Foreign Ministry supports ‘Cinema Jenin’ within the framework of its ‘Future for Palestine’ programme. The Ministry has made possible part of the renovation of the cinema with more than 240,000 Euro including the acquisition of two D-Cinema projectors. ‘Goethe Institute Ram’Allah’ is planning to open a movie library and gallery on the first floor of the cinema and is also using one of the rooms of the guesthouse for German lessons. AirBerlin has been extremely generous in sponsoring monthly flights (and excess luggage) to Tel Aviv and back and, in this way, support the work of our volunteers and staff. The ‘Cinema Jenin’ association would also like to thank our partners and sponsors, like Ferrostaal, Gerriets, Xpand, Bewegte Bilder, the ‘Cinema for Peace’ Foundation, Hasso Plattner Ventures and all the many others whose logos are shown on our webpage and without whose generous support we would not be able to do what we are doing!

Cinema Jenin has also found a new reliable partner in the city of Tubingen: The formal ties between the project and the city will ensure that there will be a consistent cultural exchange and increasing connections with Europe after the opening of the cinema. What had started with the cinema in Jenin will also be growing in Tubingen.

Read the rest of this entry »

At the very beginning of the project we decided to spend as much of the donations we received and are still receiving here in Jenin. One aspect of this decision concerns the contractors, the other the products we choose to use.
For example the cinema-chair. The original chairs from the sixties, covered with pigeon feces, in large parts damaged and to narrow in width, were not usable anymore. Nevertheless the chair-legs were made of beautifully designed cast iron. So instead of importing a modern chair from abroad, spending the budget for example in Turkey, we decided to restore the existing chairs, upholster them, and at the same time enlarging the width so that they meet todays demands of comfort. It´s obvious that such a route requires more time and energy from our side to ensure quality, but our aim to support the very local economy was always a good guide when we had to make such decisions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear friends of Project Cinema Jenin,
some month ago the habitants of Jenin did not really know what these strange foreigners from Europe are doing in their city. Slowly the people realized and understood from personal talks with the team, the volunteers and the local helping hands that we plan to renovate and re-open the cinema next year. So we decided to start a campain in the city to make sure that everybody gets to know about it. In the first step we now have our flyer in Arabic language. Furthermore we announced the re-opening of the cinema, as you can see, on a big banner in Arabic language on the roof of the cinema. Later there will be a LED-screen for commercials produced by the youngsters of the Cinema Jenin Filmschool and Cinema Jenin Production, featuring the movies wich will be show next in the cinema. There are many more ideas regarding this screen.

Read the rest of this entry »

Between all our reports from Jenin I just want to say a big thank you to air berlin, our flight sponsors!!! We are really fortunate to profit from their generosity and from the way they take care of us, from the “easy booking” to the special luggage conditions: On our last trip we took two huge loudspeakers and several huge bags filled with donations as charity overweight on top of our luggage. At the check-in at Tegel airport, Mr. Karabulut (we learned that it means black cloud in Turkish) made everything easy and possible.

Thanks again to all air berliners and see you soon in our guesthouse in Jenin!

Concerning the renovation of the cinema everything goes fine. A digital projector, a 35mm projector, the screen, a 3D cinema system and the sound system are sponsored already by private people and companies. One of the things which are still missing is a ground support rigg (40.000 Euro) for the lighting system as the walls of the cinema do not fit to the weights we have. The rigg is not included in the renovation costs covered by the German government.

Read the rest of this entry »