 our team
A project like Cinema Jenin would not be possible without a dedicated team. Everybody that contributed his or her work to making the vision of Project Cinema Jenin come true should be mentioned. But the numbers have grown so rapidly over the past months that we can only present the core teams in Jenin and Germany. Doing so in the alphabetical order below, is part of Project Cinema Jenin’s philosophy to value all efforts equally. Though it is the nature of a project which becomes as big as Project Cinema Jenin that – in order to ensure continuity and professionalism – especially the local team has started to receive smaller salaries, we are delighted to mention that all international and some Palestinian team members are still volunteering!
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Amin Abdulhadi
Production Studio Manager
Amin, born in Nablus, Palestine in 1987, is studying business marketing at the Arab American University in Jenin. He is a well known hip hop singer since 2004 and passionate about music. He used to be a volunteer at various projects in Jenin, Nablus and at his university before joining Project Cinema Jenin together with Ma'moun. Currently, he is focusing on his studies which will end in summer 2010. Notwithstanding, he is still taking charge of the one aspect of Project Cinema Jenin which is most dear to him: the construction of the sound production studio. He is already editing a CD with songs from Jenin that will be featured through the project. Naturally, Amin is most excited about the options for music production in Jenin that the project will realize.
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JAMAL AL-DOULANI
Legal Counselor | Notary
Jamal was born in Jenin in 1958. After a working as an expatriate in Kuwait from 1979 on, he went to Lebanon to study and received his BA in law from Beirut Arab University 1992. Ever since he runs a law firm in Jenin and acts as a defense lawyer in the city’s different courts. He joined Project Cinema Jenin as the projects legal counselor and is handling all contractual issues. Due to his good connections to the municipality and other governmental bodies, he is the person to turn to whenever the project needs the support of the local authorities. Jamal holds the believe that the project will bring a lot of foreigners to Jenin and make them experience firsthand what a wonderful and friendly place Jenin is, thus breaking the international isolation Jenin was thrown into. |
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MARION AWWAD
Language Center | Translator
Born in Nazareth in 1976, Marion moved to Germany when she was still a baby. She lived in Hamburg and did a vocational training as a secretary for foreign languages and export management. After she married, she moved back to Palestine and worked as a teacher for German. She is currently building the language center at Project Cinema Jenin and just started with her first German language class in March 2010. Marion is also working as a translator for the project and is in charge of correspondence with Germany. She wants to transport her love for Germany and hopes that the educational programs of Project Cinema Jenin will help improve the job perspectives of the people in Jenin at home and abroad.
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Alex Bakri
Camera | Co-Director (Co-Founder Project)
Alex, an Israeli-Arab director, studied cinema in Tel Aviv. His short film "Ajameyon" (2008) was shown at “The other Israel film festival” in New York. He also assisted in directing the documentary “Heart of Jenin”. Recently he has been working as a cinematographer for the documentary “Zahra” by Mohammad Bakri and as an actor in Ilia Suleiman’s new film “The time that remains”. Within Project Cinema Jenin Alex is giving film and camera workshops. He hopes that the project will contribute to a more diverse Palestinian cinema.
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Stefan Binggeser
Technical Director | sound & network (Co-Founder Project)
Born in 1982, he studied media designer for picture and sound. Till 2005, he made an internship and traineeship at the FFO GmbH (TV and film production company). He was working in technical assistance and maintenance of cutting studios (amongst others SWR off-site studios in Ulm and Tübingen). He is working as a sound technician in various TV productions and since 2006 as an independent technician for sound technology and post-production.
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HICHAM BOURDAN
Local Fundraising | Public Relations Italy
Hicham is currently the only non-German international who is based in Jenin. He was born in Manerbio, Italy and is studying International Law in a magister program. Having had in all sorts of jobs in construction and bars, he finally found his most favored task outside of law in the field of public relations while working with an Italian NGO. When Hicham heard about Project Cinema Jenin, he immediately decided that he will use his talent to start a campaign for the project in Italy which he is still managing. Given his Moroccan family background and his fluent Arabic, he soon became involved in the local fundraising campaign in Palestine as well. He thinks that Project Cinema Jenin, besides all its positive impact on the region, is simply run by such an outstanding team that he considers working with it a reward in itself.
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Daniel Brumund
Press Officer International
Born in 1983, Daniel studied Media, Politics and English in Bonn. He has been active within the student council at University and joined the PR-department of the German student organization Weitblick e.V. which aims at bettering educational opportunities for children worldwide. Daniel fell in love with the Middle East in 2007 during a one-month student exchange program in Jordan and Lebanon. In 2008, he went to New Zealand to study film in Wellington and to travel extensively through the country. While still living with the Kiwis, Daniel heard about Cinema Jenin and was immediately amazed by it. Shortly after finishing his studies, he hopped on a plane and arrived in Jenin where he is now taking care of the press work. Daniel is certain that the cultural, creative and job opportunities offered by the cinema will change life in Jenin for the better.
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Annette Burchard
Theater | Workshops (Co-Founder Project)
Annette was born in 1959 in Göttingen. In 1980 she got her first engagement at Hamburg Thalia Theater and started her studies at the Hamburg School of Acting in 1982. From 1985 to 1987, she worked at Hildesheim City Theatre and then at Tübingen Regional Theatre for three years. Since the birth of her daughter Helen in 1990, Annette has been working as a free lance actress and drama teacher. Amongst other things, she frequently works in theatre sport (improvisational theatre) and for schools, as well as with prisoners, handicapped children, migrants and in adult education. In 1995, her son Tom was born. Since 2007 Annette works together with her husband Marcus Vetter for the reconstruction of the ‘Cinema Jenin’ in Palestine.
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Felix gebauer
Events Manager | Communications
Felix, who was born in 1983, studies Arabic, Media and Politics in Leipzig and Damascus. He travelled the Arabic World extensively and worked as freelance journalist on cultural and political issues. Felix has been involved in theatre-, film- and circus-projects in Germany and Syria. He is organizing all special events around the Project Cinema Jenin such as festivals and visits of international delegations and most notably the Jenin International Film Festival which is scheduled for April 2011. Given his fluent Arabic, he is also the main communication link between the teams in Germany and Palestine. Parallel, Felix is currently running research on uses and gratifications and art house cinema in Middle Eastern society and is organizing weekly movie screenings and discussions at the Cinema Jenin Guesthouse. He hopes that Project Cinema Jenin will play an important role in enriching the regional cinema culture.
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MICHELE (MIKE) GENTILE
Marketing | LED Team Manager
Born in Tubingen, Germany in 1987, Mike went to live in Australia for one and a half years after high school. Being called back to Germany to serve in the army, he decided to use his service time to learn more about high-tech equipments. He became an expert in communication and circuit board technology and was deployed in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer. But besides his affinity for complex technical problems, he constantly harbored the wish to go into film making. This is why he started his own little film production team which finally brought him in touch with Project Cinema Jenin. In Jenin, Mike is currently employing his combined skills to train the team that will manage and produce advertisement for the huge LED-screen on the cinemas roof. He just loves the almost crazy idea to implement such a complex technical solution in an environment like Jenin.
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Fakhri Hamad
Project Manager Palestine (Co-Founder Project)
Born in the Balata refugee camp next to Nablus, Palestine in 1971, he was arrested twice during the First Intifada in 1988 and 1991. Since 1993 he is engaged in the peace process between Palestine and Israel. He holds a BA in Law from An Najah University, Nablus. He worked in different positions in the fields of media and politics, and for international humanitarian organizations like COOPI and Première Urgence. He became the on-site project manager as well as a co-founder of Cinema Jenin e.V. and took up the challenging tasks to build the local organization which will ultimately run the cinema. Fakhri has been restlessly working for the project over the last years and excels in transporting the vision of Project Cinema Jenin to win the support of donors, volunteers and the local community. He is driven by a strong mission to engage people from both sides of the conflict in a true dialogue and Project Cinema Jenin is his way of working towards this goal.
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Johannes Hucke
Project Architect (Co-Founder Project)
Born in 1968, Johannes is a graduate engineer for architecture, stonemason and stone sculptor and a member of the Berlin architectural association. He studied architecture in Münster and Potsdam and worked for Daniel Libeskind as well as other national and international planning offices for many years. Thanks to his work in a wide range of fields, he has been able to gain experience in the preservation of historical monuments, construction management, the planning of prominent cultural projects, light planning and office management. He always harbored the wish however, to work on sustainable projects for the less privileged rather than merely designing traditional Western-style commercial buildings. When he was introduced to Marcus Vetter in 2008 he spontaneously decided to take up the opportunity to make this wish come true in Palestine. He has been supervising the reconstruction of the cinema and guest house ever since. |
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philip Husemann
Public Relations | Fundraising
Philip was born in 1982 in Bonn. He studied Historical Studies, Politics and Public Law at the University of Bonn and later at the University of Freiburg. His main academic focuses were International Cold War Politics, Human Rights Policy, and the Prevention of Basic Rights in the National and European Context. In 2006, he completed an internship at the Deutscher Bundestag in Berlin. As an intern, he worked for the Chair of the Bundestag Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. After graduating from Freiburg in 2009, he moved back to Berlin and became a member of the research team of Prof. Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin- at that time the Chair of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, as well as the former Minister of Justice. In 2010 he started volunteering for Cinema Jenin, specifically in the fields of Press Relations, Fundraising and Communications.
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AHMAD IBRAHIM
Facility Manager | Night Guard
Ahmad is the brother of Ayman and was born in Jenin in 1985. Due to the outbreak of the Second Intifada, he had to quit school without a degree in his ninth year. He has been working in various jobs in farming and construction ever since. When his brother told him that Project Cinema Jenin would need a skilled craftsman like him to do the maintenance works in the projects different buildings, Ahmad took the chance immediately. Being the night guard as well, he is now the face of the project for all those that arrive tiredly at late hours. Ahmad hopes that the project will employ many more people in the future and give them the chance to provide for their families. |
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Achim Johne
Technical Director | light engineering (Co-Founder Project)
Born in 1957, Achim studied light engineering (Polytechnic Darmstadt). He has his roots in the world of theatre and opera as a stage designer, prop master and lighting technician. He participated in various opera productions of the ‘Jeunesses Musicales’ group, some of which were staged at the castle of Weikersheim. He also participated in a production of Brecht’s ‘Threepenny Opera’ and a ‘Hitler’s youth’ production staged at Stuttgart’s ‘Theaterhaus’. Since 1985 he works for the SDR/SWR (German TV channel), where he took part in the production of numerous films, shows and documentaries. He was a founding member of the ‘Filmperspektive’ and worked as a design and technical advisor for various projects and productions.
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Ma’moun Kanan
Assistant Project Manager Palestine
Born in Jenin in 1989, Ma’moun is studying computer science at the Arab American University in Jenin. Having worked as a volunteer in several projects in Jenin and Bethlehem, he became one of the first local volunteers supporting Project Cinema Jenin. Due to his constant successful engagement and dedication, he is deputizing Fakhri as the Assistant Project Manager in Jenin. Being a natural communications talent, he is also responsible for coordination with visiting workshops and journalists. In his free time he loves performing as a beat boxer and has organizes concerts together with Amin. Ma’amoun hopes that Project Cinema Jenin will help to jumpstart Jenin’s crumbling economy and bring in more tourists. |
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Ismael khatib
Ambassador of Project Cinema Jenin
Manager Cuneo Center
Ismael was born in 1965 in the Jenin refugee camp after his family was expelled from its home in a village near Haifa in 1948. He grew up in Jenin and joined the Fatah movement as a young man. He participated in the First Intifada, the Palestinian uprising. For this he imprisoned by Israel on three different occasions. After he was released for the third time and following his father’s advice he quit his activity in the Fatah, got married and opened a clothing store. He later closed his store and opened a car repair shop which was closed later due to the building of the separation wall by Israel. He had six children when his son, Ahmed, was shot by an Israeli soldier that mistook a toy riffle he played with for a real one. Ismael’s decision to donate his son’s organs, to Arab as well as Jewish patients, received a lot of attention, was documented in the film “Heart from Jenin”, and became the inspiration for the Project Cinema Jenin. Lately, he opened the "Cuneo Centre for peace" which is affiliated to the cinema.
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FRANZ MACHER
Projectionist | Cinema Staff Trainer
Being born in Weinheim, Germany, in 1985, Franz is now studying law in Konstanz. During his studies he also started working as a projectionist in the cinema of Überlingen. When he heard of Project Cinema Jenin, Franz rearranged his schedule of studies and came to Jenin to start organizing the local staff for the cinema. Here he is currently working on reviving the old 35mm projectors which he uses in his trainings with a group of enthusiastic people from Jenin who will become projectionists in the cinema. In the near future, Franz will also start selecting and training other locals for the other daily operations in the cinema such as ticketing and ushering. He hopes that Cinema Jenin will let the people of Jenin enjoy the beauty and the fascination of cinema, an experience that they for too long have been deprived of! |
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FIRAS MAHAJNEH
Accountant
Firas was born in Jenin in 1983. He went to high school in Bethlehem and graduated in 2001. He holds a music diploma from the renowned Edward Said Institute in Ramallah and is currently enrolled in a BA program in finance at the Al-Quds Open University, Jerusalem. After having worked in various finance and accounting positions for Paltel Group and CHF International in Ramallah and Jenin, he joined Project Cinema Jenin as a volunteer in 2009. Given his expertise in financial issues he quickly became the projects acting accountant, thus relieving Fakhri and Marcus from a lot of work. Firas hopes that the project will bring change and improved living conditions for the people Jenin. |
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Ulf Meyer
Project Manager Germany | Communications
Born in 1978, Ulf received his degree in ‘Graphic- and Communication Design’ from the Hamburger ‘Technical Art College’ in 2002. He also completed a part-time degree in ‘Business Englisch and International Marketing’ at the University of Hamburg. Since 1999 he founded a number of enterprises in different fields ranging from ‘Software Design & Internet’ (1999-2001) and ‘Market Research & Consulting’ (2000-2007) to ‘Event & Project Management’ (2003-2005). He also set up a network for free lance designers (2000-2007) and remains the owner and CEO of the ‘Sekeido Agency for Creativity’ in Hamburg (since 2004). Moreover, he is one of the founders of the ‘One New Earth’ project, which aims to spread innovative and sustainable ideas and concepts for politics, the environment and the social sector. He is also an active member of various voluntary organisations.
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AYMAN NASSRA
Receptionist | Guest House Chef
Ayman, who was born in Jenin in 1972, is married and has four children. After having graduated from high school, he worked in various jobs in the gastronomy and also started his own business. When he heard about Project Cinema Jenin it was clear to him that this could be Jenin’s best chance for a better future in quite some time. Thus, he joined the project by bringing in his cooking skills which lead too much appreciated dinners in the guest house ever since. Since the guest house started to attract an increasing number of visitors, Randa was able to give him a full job and he is now also working as a receptionist. |
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dagmar quentin
Public Relations | International Fundraising
(Co-Founder Project)
Born in 1948, Dagmar studied art in Berlin, lived in France for 8 years, returned to Berlin with her son and started working for all sorts of interesting projects life has been offering her. Among other things, she ran Daniel Libeskind’s studio for the construction of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and Lord Foster’s studio for the German Reichstag (Parliament). She was also heavily involved in the creation phase of ‘C/O Berlin - International Forum for Visual Dialogues’ and ‘Hasso Plattner Ventures’ in Potsdam for whom she is organising annual forums. It was at one of these forums that Marcus Vetter introduced the Cinema Jenin Project. Since that very day, she is working for the project in various capacities. Dagmar is also co-founder of Cinema Jenin e.V. Her company’s name explains what she likes to do: d. connects.
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MATTHEW VON SCHLIPPE
IT-Manager | Sound Technology
Matthew, who was born in New York, USA in 1986, studies sound engineering in Berlin. Parallel to his studies he worked in IT and as a freelance sound engineer. He has always been active in music, playing in several bands over the years. Matthew is involved in Project Cinema Jenin in various ways, most notably in the on-site planning of the sound systems for the cinema and the studio and more recently in setting up a professional IT infrastructure. Though currently based in Germany due to his studies, he will be in Jenin from July on to supervise the installation of the sound technology. He will also be giving trainings for the IT and sound equipment and start building the staff for the production studio together with Amin. Matthew hopes that the project will lead to people increasingly using the venues offered to make concerts.
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Katja Schmitz-Dräger
Festival Organisation | Public Relations
Born in 1979 in Southern Germany, Katja grew up moving between a number of cities and countries, thus picking up quite fluent English and French and making it a hobby to learn fragments of other languages as well. She finished her M.A. in History, English, and Political Science in Hamburg in 2008 and straightaway started working as a free lance journalist, writer, and historian for documentary films (and basically anything else) in Berlin. Katja contacted Marcus about something completely different in summer 2009, but when she heard him talk about Cinema Jenin, she travelled to Palestine, and fell in love with Jenin and the project at once. She now coordinates the programming of the festival together with Felix, works in the PR section with Liva, and tries to pick up some Arabic.
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RANDA SINAN
Guest House Manager
Randa was born in Jenin in 1975. She graduated with a BA in arts and interior design from An Najah University in Nablus. During her studies, she got to know Fakhri. They married and she gave birth to their two children, thus working as a housewife ever since. When Project Cinema Jenin took off, the kids where just about old enough that she could start working again. She immediately fell in love with the idea of running the guest house which she is doing ever since with the help of Ayman. Bringing in her talents, she managed to turn the guest house into the welcoming and beautiful place it is today. She is well aware of the needs of the local families for a place to meet and celebrate which she is hoping the cinema and its surrounding garden will become.
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TARIQ SWITAT
Press Officer Palestine | Public Relations Palestine
Born in Jenin in 1984, Tariq studied at the Arab American University Jenin from which he holds a BA in management information systems. He worked as a logistics officer in several big corporations like MSS Medical Supplies in Ramallah. Ever since his studies, he has also been working in the field of media and most notably in the radio business. This is also where he discovered his talent for marketing which led him to start his own radio station in Jenin together with some partners. Despite his growing local radio, he started volunteering for Project Cinema Jenin which he believes is Jenin’s big chance for sending a message of peace to the world. With this conviction he is marketing the vision of the project.
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Marcus Vetter
Founder of Project Cinema Jenin
Project Manager Germany
Born in 1967, director and producer. He studied ‘Business Studies’ in Worms, Buenos Aires and Madrid. After a work placement at ‘Bavaria Film’ he decided to start another degree in ‘Media Sciences’ at the University of Tübingen. Since 1994 he works as a free lance editor, writer and director for the German SDR/SWR (German TV channel). He directed numerous documentaries which run regularly at festivals. His documentaries won him the ‘Grimme Award’ three times so far: In 2000 for the dramatized documentary ‘the tunnel’ (which also received the German Television Award), in 2001 for the documentary ‘Where money grows – the European Championship TV story’, and in 2002 for ‘Broadway Bruchsal’. Other films were ‘Wenn der Bus kommt’ (1997), ‘Wargames’ (2002), ‘Battle for Bruckmann’ (2004), ‘Die Unzerbrechlichen’ (2006), ‘Mein Vater der Türke’ (2006), ‘Traders´Dreams’ (2007) and ‘Heart of Jenin’ (2008).
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CONTRACTORS, TRAINERS, ETC.
Besides the above core team, Project Cinema Jenin employs a significant amount of local contractors and is supported by many more international volunteers that offer technical trainings and other workshops in Jenin. We would like to thank all of them!
see a list of the whole local and international team and all volunteers  |
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