My Neighborhood Screening - A Success!

When Mohammad El Kurd, the protagonist of the film My Neighborhood, said, "This was the best Q&A so far", I knew we had done something right... That we had been able to connect a powerful film with an engaged audience and curious community. 

What the Palestinian community in Sheikh Jarrah is going through is absolutely atrocious. Imagine going home to your NYC apartment, or your house anywhere for that matter, and you find someone else there. Your furniture has been removed and placed carelessly on the street, and you are told you need to find another place to live. No reason, no remorse, you have been unlawfully displaced. That is what is going on and happening to hundreds of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and most Israelis don't even know about it. 

My Neighborhood shows how both Palestinians and Israelis can come together to fight against these unjust acts, against extremists. You can visit www.Justvision.org to see exclusive interviews with some of these families and you can learn how to get involved. 

Many thanks to our wonderful audience, the team and filmmakers at JustVision - Julia Bacha, Rula Salameh, Ronit Avni, Nadav Greenberg, our moderator Carol Dysinger, and to New York University for making today's event and our EchoChamber relaunch simply exciting. 

Next up, Syria and Libya. Event details to come soon. 

And remember, cinema + discussion + action. If you would not want it to happen to you, don't let it happen to other people. 

Love,

The EchoChamber Team

Moderator Carol Dysinger, director Julia Bacha, protagonist Mohammed El Kurd and co-producer Rula Salameh 

 Moderator Carol Dysinger, director Julia Bacha - EchoChamber has hosted screenings for both Carol's movie Camp Victory, Afghanistan and Julia's Budrus.

Julia Bacha educates the audience on the harsh realities of East Jerusalem politics 

EchoChamber co-founder Shruti Ganguly with the panelists

EchoChamber // My Neighbourhood Screening // Monday, September 24th

Dear friends,

EchoChamber is pleased to present our latest screening, around an ever-relevant issue. A few years ago, we met filmmaker and Just Vision's Creative Director Julia Bacha at the Berlinale where we watched her award-winning documentary Budrus and then hosted a special screening of the movie in NYC. 

This Fall, we are proud to collaborate with Julia and Just Vision again to present a viewing of their latest short film, My Neighbourhood, which follows Mohammed El Kurd, a young Palestinian boy growing up in East Jerusalem, who loses half of his family home to Israeli settlers and soon after joins his community in a campaign of nonviolent protests. Efforts to put a quick end to the demonstrations are foiled when scores of Israelis choose to stand by the residents' side. As Julia wrote in her director's statement, "My Neighbourhood is an attempt to...see Jerusalem not solely from the perspective of politicians and religious extremists, but rather through the eyes of individuals growing up in the city, and hoping, despite all they have experienced, that a more noble and equitable future exists for all who live within it."

The screening will take place next Monday, September 24th, at 7:00 PM at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts at 721 Broadway (Room 017), and a Q&A with Mohammed and the filmmakers will follow. 

Please see the invite below for details. If you can make it, please RSVP to shrutiganguly@gmail.com as soon as possible, as space is limited.

A suggested donation of $10.00, which will go entirely to Just Vision and their future film ventures, would be greatly appreciated. 

Cheers, many thanks, and see you there!

Smriti, Shruti, Angie & Riddhika

The EchoChamber Team

EchoChamber

Cinema + Discussion + Action

www.startanecho.org

My Neighbourhood – Running Time: 25 minutes

It's been a while!

Dear EchoChamber friends,

We will have a new slate of films and screenings coming up soon, and we are very excited to start 2012-2013 with a bang. Stay tuned and remember: Cinema + Discussion + Action -> The Echo Effect!

Yours,
The EC team

Lobsang Sangay + The Future of Tibet

Read the article I wrote for Dossier Magazine regarding the Lobsang Sangay talk at the Asia Society here!

Cheers and see you at the next one!

Shruti

Listen to the new Tibetan leader at the Asia Society, Tuesday July 19, 2011

Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister, The Tibetan Government in Exile In a historic vote last March, Dr. Lobsang Sangay was elected the third Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. This August, he will formally take over the political duties relinquished by the Dalai Lama, who until recently held the dual role of the political as well as the spiritual leader of Tibet. Dr. Sangay's election marks a new phase in the history of the Tibetan community in exile — signaling a new generation of leadership and devolution of political responsibilities to elected officials. A month ahead of the official inauguration ceremony, Lobsang Sangay joins Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl to discuss Tibet's future, prospects for genuine autonomy within China, and aspirations of the Tibetan exile community, among other issues. An expert in the fields of international law, democratic constitutionalism and conflict resolution, Dr. Sangay is currently a visiting research fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. He is also an Asia Society Asia 21 Young Leaders Fellow. For more information click here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Sangay

A Conversation You Don't Want To Miss - At The Asia Society

Is Reconciliation with the Taliban Possible in Afghanistan?

Thursday, June 23 at 6:30 pm Ten years on in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO forces are scheduled to begin a drawdown of forces in July. Join former Afghan Interior Minister Ali A. Jalali, and Hassina Sherjan, Aid Afghanistan for Education and Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution, co-authors of Toughing It Out in Afghanistan for a discussion of whether reconciliation with Taliban is a viable option in Afghanistan. Moderated by Michael W. Hanna, The Century Foundation. For more information click here. Can't make it to this program? Tune in to the free video webcast on AsiaSociety.org/Live from 6:30 to 8:00 pm ET. Online viewers are encouraged to send questions to moderator@asiasociety.org

EchoChamber//Afghanistan

Last year we premiered Ian Old's powerful documentary The Fixer in association with HBO and The Asia Society. This November, we are excited to present another film on Afghanistan, Carol Dysinger's Camp Victory, Afghanistan.

See you at the show!

The EchoChamber Team