50/50: Hip Hop in Israel and Palestine (Alexandra Boulat)

On both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rappers are the voice of a new generation whose weapons are lyrics and music.

In Gaza, Mohamed, or DR (short for Dynamic Rapper), leads PR, the "Palestinian Rapperz". Despite Islamic laws, Israeli incursions and internal conflicts, PR persists in performing hip-hop concerts and producing new songs. "Our reality in Gaza is about suffering," says Mohamed. "Gaza is like a big prison, and we get our message across with rap music." Since last June, PR's Web site has had thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Jew Da lives in El'Ad, an Orthodox Jewish settlement near Tel Aviv. He recently moved from America to preach in Israel, putting his religion into his rap. Jew Da found rap before religion and he tries to follow a piece of advice given to him by his Rabbi: "Take what you did before, and flip it to holiness." Not easy. During a recent video shoot with other rappers, the former hard-partier acted shy about appearing with shimmying women dancers and tattooed colleagues.

The Film

My Father is a Certain Kind of Man, December 2010 (Israel)

My father is a certain kind of man.

A few years ago we were in Greece together. He sat on a bench with another man. And they understood each other.

Their Language was their cigarettes,

Their ears grown large with age,

Their noses red from good times and bad times,

What a life we’ve had

Their hands ingrained with dirt from long ago

My father’s a certain kind of man.

And I sometimes wish I was too

(accompanying music: Mrs McGrath: The Sergeant Said)

marxism today: Phil Collins

marxism today

Phil Collins

Phil Collins’ work in film, video and photography often provides a platform for the overlooked or the disenfranchised. Shining a light on what is generally perceived as the losing side in the political and social upheavals of the past two decades, ‘marxism today’ is an ongoing project that began by following the fortunes of former teachers of Marxism-Leninism in Communist East Germany. Collins’ short film ‘marxism today (prologue)’ (2010) mixes contemporary interviews with the ex-teachers alongside archive material, to form the centrepiece of this exhibition, which also includes a new video in which a number of concepts central to Marxist economic analysis are introduced to a new generation of students. Relocating from the start of this school year to Manchester, where Engels wrote ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’, Collins’ project prompts a wider reflection on the city’s formative place in the history of radical thinking. Initiating a series of interactions with nearby schools and the local public, it also enquires into the continuing relevance of Marxist ideas in the present day.

‘marxism today’ is co-commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, Cornerhouse, Abandon Normal Devices, Berliner Künstlerprogramm/DAAD, Berlin Biennale and Shady Lane Productions.

SEEKING FORMER
TEACHERS OF
MARXISM

Did you teach Marxist-Leninist philosophy at school or university before 1989?

How did your life and career change as a result of perestroika?

Did you have to give up your profession forever?

Find a new subject to teach?

Or find a new career?

Documentary filmmaker Phil Collins is looking for people willing to share their story.

Get in touch with us by email
info@shadylaneproductions.co.uk

Or leave your name and contact information HERE.

Confidentiality guaranteed.

al quds fairuz

Al-quds - Jerusalem par Fairouz
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