When: Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PMWhere: Hitchcock Cinema, Arts One, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS
An internal screening and discussion for QM staff and students, hosted by Centre for Film and Ethics
Synopsis
"Foragers" depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine/Israel with wry humor and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee and Jerusalem, it employs fiction, documentary and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. The restrictions prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like ’akkoub and za’atar (thyme), and have resulted in fines and trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants. For Palestinians, these laws constitute an ecological veil for legislation that further alienates them from their land while Israeli state representatives insist on their scientific expertise and duty to protect. Following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, from the chases between the foragers and the nature patrol, to courtroom defenses, "Foragers" captures the joy and knowledge embodied in these traditions alongside their resilience to the prohibitive law. By reframing the terms and constraints of preservation, the film raises questions around the politics of extinction, namely who determines what is made extinct and what gets to live on.
For more details, visit https://www.jumanamanna.com/Foragers.
Centre for Film and Ethics and IHSS Fellows Dr Yasmin Fedda and Dr Daniel Mann
The organisers will be collecting donations for Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund.