Chicago Palestine Film Festival 2005 English

This year we are able to bring a staggering number of special guests to the festival to present films and participate in question and answer sessions after film screenings. Our invited guests include Columbia University professor Joseph Massad, Lebanese author Elias Khoury, documentary filmmaker Buthaina Canaan Khoury, and emerging filmmaker Shady Srour from Nazareth. We are especially proud to present world-class Latino filmmaker Miguel Littin from Chile, who will present his two recent films about Palestine and his connection to the land of his grandparents. More information about these special guests can be found at our web site.

We are proud to be the only annual film festival of Palestinian films and Palestine-related films in the world. As we begin our fourth festival, we reaffirm our formative mission statement, which has guided our selection process:

The Chicago Palestine Film Festival (CPFF) is an independent, not-for-profit, non-sectarian project based in Chicago that exhibits and promotes films by Palestinian directors and films about Palestine. CPFF is dedicated to presenting a film festival that is open, critical, and reflective of the culture, experience and vision of the filmmakers.

We are thank our individual donors, foundations, and corporations including the Illinois Humanities Council, Crossroads Fund, the Jerusalem Fund, Dish Network, and the Electronic Intifada. Of course, we could not host a film festival without high-quality venues, so we are grateful to the Gene Siskel Film Center of the Art Institute of Chicago for inviting us to be a community partner. We are also hosted at Saint Xavier University thanks to the support of their Center for International Education, Middle Eastern Studies Program, and Department of Anthropology and Sociology.

From April 15 to 28, screenings are at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute, Chicago's premier venue for independent and world cinema, located at 164 N. State St.

Tickets to each screening are $9/general admission and $5/Film Center members and may be purchased at the Film Center Box Office, which opens at 5 p.m. on weekdays and at 2 p.m. on weekends. General public tickets are also available through Ticketmaster, 312-575-8000, www.ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets.

For more information, call the Film Center at 312-846-2800 (24-hour movie hotline) or 312-846-2600 (general information, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday), or log on www.siskelfilmcenter.org.

The Interparking SELF-PARK at 20 E. Randolph St., located between Wabash and State, offers Film Center patrons a special rate of $13 with no time limit. Patrons are required to show their ticket stub to receive the discount.

From April 29 to May 2, screenings are at St. Xavier University, 3700 West 103rd Street, Chicago, IL 60655 (773) 298-3000. These screenings are cost free, but donations will be requested.

Please visit our web site for detailed information about the schedule, venues, and films. For review copies, please contact Gene Siskel Film Center for the films they are hosting or contact CPFF's press relations team at pr@palestinefilmfest.com or 312-873-4401.

Chicago Palestine Film Festival 2005 Arabic