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artist's statement ::
about the artist |
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Artist's Statement
Using the conventions of the Western genre, "The Satellite
Shooters" satirically tells the story of Tawfiq, a young
Arab boy in Texas trying to find his place in America, and
The Kid, a local gunslinger. This "Falafel Western" is a
critique of the imagination that the Western arises from -
that fantasy land wherein masculine idealizations and
racial hierarchies lead to the prevailing cowboy hero and
his stunted sidekick. "The Satellite Shooters" is also a
story of assimilation and an immigrant experience.
Orientalism meets Occidentalism when Tawfiq and The Kid
embark upon a mission to change the world.
I wanted to tell the story of a character whose world has
been shaped by racist images from popular American
culture, in this case that of the Western film as well as
that of Orientalist ethnic fantasies.
Tawfiq is drawn to these images and initially finds a
fantasy world where he feels free. Through his meeting of
The Kid, he finds that his position as the "other" leaves
little room for him to make his own claims in that world.
He position has already been decided and, when he chooses
to stake his own claim, the relationship between he and
The Kid is challenged. This is the story of a sidekick who
refuses to be the sidekick.
Tawfiq's initial fantasy of the "West" is played off with
The Kid's fantasy of the "East" - where he simply sees
Tawfiq as an extension of his own American-Christian
fanaticism, imagining that because Tawfiq is from
Bethlehem, Palestine that he's his "Jesus connection."
Subsequently, he enlists Tawfiq to help him on his
"crusade." The character of Tawfiq's sister Salma was also
a playful way to critique the Orientalist fantasy of Arab
women as either belly dancing pleasure-givers vs. pure,
submissive, eye-batting exotics. In other words, the
virgin-whore complex so prevalent in religion.
Aside from the metaphorical implications of U.S.-Middle
East relations, etc, I simply wanted to tell a story about
an awakening - where a character living in many worlds
finds a way to choose his own fantasies and own position
in his life. |
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About the Artist
Palestinian filmmaker and writer Annemarie Jacir moved to
the U.S. from Saudi Arabia when she was 16 years old. She
has written, directed, and produced a number of short
films including The Satellite Shooters, which was
nationally broadcast on American public television (PBS).
More recently, her film like twenty impossibles,
which premiered in Cannes, was a national finalist for the
Student Academy Awards and has won numerous awards at
International festivals. She is the recipient of a major
media grant from the Jerome Foundation. She has taught
courses at Columbia University, Barnard College, and
Birzeit University. Jacir is also chief curator of the
Dreams of a Nation project, a Palestinian film
database, archive and traveling festival. Publications
include "Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology"
published by Interlink Publishers. Jacir divides her work
and her time between Ramallah, Palestine, and New York and
is currently in development on a feature length film. For
more information:
www.philistine.org. |
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| Major Exhibitions |
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2003 |
like twenty impossibles
35mm, 17 minutes |
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- Cannes Film Festival,
Official Selection
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Student
Academy Awards, National Finalist
- Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, Best
Short Film
- IFP/New York Emerging Narrative Best Short Film
- Chicago International Film Festival, Best Short Film
- Nantucket Film Festival, Best Short Screenplay
- Institute Du Monde Arabe Biannual, Best Short Film |
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2001 |
The Satellite Shooters
16mm, 16 minutes |
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- Kathryn H. Parlan
Screenwriting Award at Columbia University
- Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in Screenwriting |
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2000 |
Two Hundred Years of American Ideology
Video, 12 minutes |
| 2000 |
Chronicle of Civilized
and Consequential Moments of Reconciliation
Video, 2 min. |
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1998 |
A Post-Oslo History
Video, 6 minutes |
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