2009 36 min 1-932869-32-8 This film has subtitles English

Live: From Bethlehem

What Do You Really Know About Palestine?

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Synopsis

The Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency (MNA) emerged out of the ashes of the second Intifada to become the only independent news network in the Palestinian Territories and an increasingly prominent and influential journalistic force in the wider Middle East. Live: From Bethlehem tells MNA's remarkable story. It chronicles the agency's struggles and successes through the eyes of the station's reporters, producers, and photographers, in the process quietly revealing the humanity of ordinary Palestinians as they go about their daily business. The documentary trains its focus on people more than on abstract issues, yet it never loses sight of the myriad social and political forces and pressures that Ma'an journalists are forced to negotiate as they try to gather and report balanced information. What results is an admirably nuanced portrait of how news gets produced, and how Palestinians live, in one of the world's most troubled regions.

Release Date:2009
Duration:36 min
ISBN:1-932869-32-8
Subtitles:English

Trailers

Watch the trailer

Filmmaker Credits

Filmmakers
Matt Sienkiewicz and Joseph C. Sousa
Producers
Matt Sienkiewicz and Joseph C. Sousa
Co-Producer
Amira Hanania
Associate Producers
Emily Sienkiewicz, Vera Ventura
Videography
Matt Sienkiewicz
Editors
Walter Blazewicz, Cob Carlson, Joseph C. Sousa
Assistant Editor
Ethan Schwelling
Audio Mix
Joel Schwelling
Colorist
Dave Allen
Translation
Nidal Al-Azraq

Film Festivals

Screenings

Global Visions Film Series, University of North Dakota
April, 21, 2009

Conference Screenings

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference
March 17-21, 2010

Resources: Downloads and Related Links

Downloads:

Praise

"fascinating..."
- The Chicago Reader
"Live: From Bethlehem is as compelling as it is important, both to the Palestinian conflict and the media quandaries of the larger region."
- James Miller
EA WorldView
"A truly superb film...exceptional in its nuanced portrayal of the forces that come to bear on media production in the Palestinian Territories."
- Dr. Michael Curtin
author of Playing to the World's Biggest Audience
"The film presents a concise snapshot of the struggles faced by a news organization struggling to survive and maintain integrity in an atmosphere of extreme political tension and economic uncertainty, and as such would provide an additional dimension to a collection supporting Journalism and Middle Eastern studies curricula. Recommended."
- Educational Media Reviews Online
"Live From Bethlehem goes behind the cameras and beyond the standard frameworks of seeing the Palestinians as either antagonists or victims in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...This thought provoking, action packed, and sensitive documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in how journalists work, and for anyone who wants an up close look at working life under occupation."
- Dr. Amahl Bishara
Professor of Anthropology at Tufts University
"Live from Bethlehem...gives viewers, especially those of us without first-hand experience of the region, a sense of the conflicting political and social forces journalists must deal with as they strive to provide Palestinians with a source of reliable news. This film is an important contribution to both popular and scholarly understandings of the Middle East."
- Dr. Kyle Conway
Professor of English at University of North Dakota

Press Reviews

Filmmaker Matt Sienkiewicz on Wisconsin Public Television's Director's Cut

Palestinian Journalist: Peace is Possible -- With Hard Work
The Capital Times | Samara Kalk Derby | January 27, 2009
Palestine Film Special: "Live: From Bethlehem"
EA WorldView | James Miller | June 24, 2012

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