On Thursday January 11, at 20:30
we’ll screen the film by Uri Rosenwaks

THE FILM CLASS
Producers Uri Rosenwaks, Majid Alkamalat
Cinematography Nag’ah Abu Zaeila

“Some two years ago, I came to Rahat, a Bedouin town down in Israel`s Negev Desert, to teach a group of Black Bedouin women a class in filmmaking. Little is known of the Black Bedouins and their history. As a matter of fact, they were brought to the Negev, and the Middle East at large, as slaves. Kidnapped in Africa by Arab slave traders, they were auctioned off in Zanzibar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and until 50 years ago, the Black Bedouins were still enslaved by the White ones.
When I first started working with the group, I had no knowledge of it. The women never mentioned the issue, though I found it increasingly intriguing. Only after about 18 months of working and making short films together did I work up the nerve to suggest that we make a film telling the history of the Black Bedouins. Suddenly, a small and modest course in filmmaking became a place in which a great taboo comes into the open. The women still suffering discrimination to this day unveil a story which few have spoken of.”
Uri Rosenwaks