The first annual Other Voices Film Festival screened socially oriented films for free in Sderot, Ramle, Kfar Qara and Jerusalem's Kiryat Menachem neighborhood for eight days in June.
The Festival was the fruit of a year-long effort involving local residents in each of the four communities. It is part of the development of a model of multicultural discourse that uses culture and media to generate social change. The Festival gave expression to a variety of voices and groups not necessarily part of the mainstream. SHATIL staff introduced the events at each location and helped with outreach to the media. Musical performances and discussions with the artists followed the screenings.
"The Festival gave us the opportunity to meet not just ourselves as we are but as who we would like to be and also created a meaningful, open meeting with the ‘others' who are our neighbors...not necessarily in order to accept or agree, but to listen and to acknowledge, in the hope of creating a more tolerant reality," said Sharon Ben Arie, the festival's initiator and organizer.
The Festival was sponsored by Other Voices -- the Association for the Advancement and Empowerment of the Individual through Media, SHATIL, Eretz Acheret Magazine and other social organizations.
