"The Wanted 18" - Film screening & discussion
Join us for an afternoon of film, conversation, and community at "The Wanted 18" screening and discussion, hosted by Justice for Palestinians, Watermelon Foundation for Justice, Calgary Student Movement and Independent Jewish Voices Calgary.
Date: Sunday February 2nd
Time: 2-5pm (Doors open at 1:30pm)
Location: Calgary Unitarians Church - 1703 1st St. NW
Admission: By donation. Pay at the door OR via e-transfer to:
calgary.justiceforpalestinians@gmail.com
(Please note: "Movie Screening" and include names of attendees being paid for in the message box.)
Additional info: Light refreshments will be served, please consider bringing a refillable water bottle.
The Wanted 18 is a 2014 Palestinian-Canadian animated documentary about the efforts of Palestinians in the Christian town of Beit Sahour to start a small local dairy industry during the First Intifada, hiding a herd of 18 dairy cows from Israeli security forces when the dairy collective was deemed a threat to Israel's national security. The film combines documentary interviews with those involved in the events, archival footage, drawings, black-and-white stop-motion animation as well as re-enactments, and was co-directed by Canadian filmmaker Paul Cowan and Palestinian visual artist and director Amer Shomali.
In the 1980s, as part of a Palestinian boycott of Israeli taxation and commodities, residents of Beit Sahour decided to form a collective and stop purchasing milk from Israeli companies, in a quest for greater self-sufficiency. They purchased cows from a sympathetic kibbutznik and set about teaching themselves how to care for the animals and milk them—even sending a member to the United States to learn dairy farming. The farm was a success, with strong local demand for “Intifada milk.” Despite the fact that the cows posed no serious economic threat to Israel, they were determined to be part of the boycott of Israeli administration, and hundreds of soldiers as well as military helicopters were used to search for the cows. The popularity of the cows increased support for the tax boycott, causing headaches for occupying forces.
Running time: 75 minutes