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2024 FILM & CULTURAL EVENTS
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UNDERSTANDING GAZA SERIES
Tuesday, July 23, 2024 • 7 PM
Somos café & community center, 112 East Beach St, Watsonville
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 • 7 PM
SEIU 521 Union Hall, 517 Mission St, Santa Cruz
1948: Creation & Catastrophe
(Andy Trimlett & Ahlam Muhtaseb, 2017, 85 min, Palestine & Israel)
Through riveting and moving personal recollections of both Palestinians and Israelis, this documentary reveals the shocking events of the most pivotal year in the most controversial conflict in the world. It tells the story of the establishment of Israel as seen through the eyes of the people who lived it. Rather than being a history lesson, this documentary is a primer for the present. It is simply not possible to make sense of what is happening in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today without an understanding of 1948.
Facilitated dialogue with the audience follows the film.
Watch the trailer on YouTube
If you cannot attend in person, watch the full film 1948: Creation & Catastrophe on YouTube.
Where Olive Trees Weep
(Zaya & Mauricio Benazzo, 2024, 104 min, Palestine)
A searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice. The film follows, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, Israeli journalist Amira Hass, and the trauma-healing work of Dr. Gabor Maté. Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives. This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
Facilitated dialogue with the audience follows the film.
Watch the trailer on YouTube and the full film Where Olive Trees Weep on the film’s website.
Screened at Reel Work 2024 on June 23 & June 25.
Wrestling Jerusalem
(Dylan Kussman, 2016, 90 min, USA)
Writer-actor Aaron Davidman conjures a host of different characters while seeking answers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He takes a multidimensional journey into the heart of the Middle East, and the intersection of politics, identity and spiritual yearning. He embodies and gives voice to 17 different characters on all sides of the existential divide – deftly moving between male and female, Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Arab – modeling what it takes truly to bear witness through the eyes of the other, challenging long-held beliefs with sharp and unblinking observation.
Watch the trailer on YouTube and the full film Wrestling Jerusalem on Tubi or Amazon Prime and other streaming services.
Screened at Reel Work 2024 on April 25.
5 Broken Cameras
(Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat, 2011, 94 min, Palestine)
A Palestinian farmer’s chronicle of his village of Bil’in in the West Bank including their nonviolent resistance to the building of a separation barrier cutting of their lands for a settlement and the repressive actions of the Israeli army.
Watch the full film 5 Broken Cameras on YouTube.
Screened at Reel Work 2024 on May 8.
Israelism
(Erin Axelman & Sam Eilertsen, 2024, 84 min, USA & Israel)
Portrays the heavy socialization of young people in many Zionist households in the US and Israel, as told by a few who later questioned that world view.
Watch the trailer on YouTube and the full film Israelism on Amazon Prime or Apple TV, Google Play or other streaming services.
Screened at Reel Work 2024 on May 5.
2024 SEASON EVENTS
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 • 7 PM
Glen Schaller ¡Presente!
SEIU 521 Union Hall, 517 Mission St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
State of the Unions in California
In his classic mild-mannered style—at the same time authoritative and humorous—Glen Schaller speaks at the Penny University. Though the video is dated, Glen maintained his passion for working people’s rights to the recent end of his life, and the issues of class struggle he spoke of in 2012 are current today. He is still teaching us.
Audience sharing of encounters with Glen follows the video.
Missed This Event? Watch the full video of Glen Schaller at Penny University on YouTube.
Thursday, April 25, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
Wrestling Jerusalem
(Dylan Kussman, 2016, 90 min, USA)
Writer-actor Aaron Davidman conjures a host of different characters while seeking answers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He takes a multidimensional journey into the heart of the Middle East, and the intersection of politics, identity and spiritual yearning. He embodies and gives voice to 17 different characters on all sides of the existential divide – deftly moving between male and female, Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Arab – modeling what it takes truly to bear witness through the eyes of the other, challenging long-held beliefs with sharp and unblinking observation.
Music: Mark Levy, singer, songwriter.
Co-sponsors: Resource Center for Nonviolence, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz for Bernie, Palestine Justice Committee.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film Wrestling Jerusalem on Tubi or Amazon Prime or other streaming services.
Friday, April 26, 2024 • 7 PM
418 Project Theater, 155 River St, Santa Cruz
Youth v. Gov
(Christi Cooper, 2020, 110 min, USA)
A powerful climate documentary, followed by up-to-the-minute info on the current status of the groundbreaking Juliana vs. United States case brought by 20 young people that rests on this question: Do we have a legal right to a safe climate?
Court case update and conversations moderated by Ami Chen Mills.
Sponsored by Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Missed This Event? Watch the the full film Youth V Gov on Netflix.
Saturday, April 27, 2024 • 4 PM
Mid-County Senior Center, 829 Bay Ave, Capitola
Being 80
(Bob Gliner, 2024, 56 min, Santa Cruz County, USA)
This local documentary was shown on PBS in February and showcases a diverse range of vibrant, unique and memorable 80 year olds still finding meaning in their lives through long lived career choices contradicting the stereotype that their minds and bodies are obsolete in a world where only younger generations can make the world work.
Speakers: Bob Gliner, filmmaker; John Brown Childs, professor emeritus; Cathy Cress, gerontologist.
Music by Patti Maxine.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film Being 80 on PBS.
Saturday, April 27, 2024 • 7 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
Stripped For Parts: American Journalism on the Brink
(Rick Goldsmith, 2023, 99 min, USA)
Investigative reporter Julie Reynolds, Denver Post editorialist Chuck Plunkett, and a handful of others, backed by the NewsGuild union, go toe-to-toe with the faceless Alden Global Capital in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism across America. Who will control the future of America's news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service and the lifeblood of our democracy?
Speakers: Rick Goldsmith, filmmaker and Julie Reynolds, journalist.
Watch the trailer for Stripped For Parts on Vimeo.
Missed This Event? Sign up for updates on the website for Stripped For Parts for futurre viewing options.
Sunday, April 28, 2024 • 7 PM
Workers Memorial Day
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
Into The Weeds
(Jennifer Baichwal, 2022, 97 min, USA)
A powerful story of a former Bay Area school district groundskeeper who was exposed on the job to the cancer-causing herbicide glyphosate. After he got cancer, a group of lawyers join together and successfully sued Monsanto.
Panelists: Mark Weller, Yanely Martinez, Kathleen Kilpatrick, and Woody Rehanek, pesticide safety activists with Californians for Pesticide Reform and Safe Ag, Safe Schools.
Watch the trailer for Into The Weeds on YouTube.
Missed This Event? Find where to rent the full film Into The Weeds on JustWatch.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 • 7 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid Event.
International Shorts
 
 
The Choice: a fable
(Laura Lewis-Barr, 2023, 2 min, USA)
A group of Chickens debate an important choice. Adapted from a socialist fable.
Meeting Human Needs
(Liz Gibson-DeGroote & Paula Krasiun-Winsel, 2022, 19 min, Canada)
Fight to protect pubic services in Saskatchewan. Paean to Tommy Douglas, Premier from 1944-1961.
$20 Gift Card
(Thalia Drori Ramirez, 2023, 8 min, USA)
What is the value of human labor, especially when that labor is performed by Latinos? A $20 Christmas bonus after a year of horrible working conditions?
The City That Works: Portland City Laborers & The Fight For Fair Wages
(Anna Lueck, 2023, 10 min, USA)
City of Portland essential workers who keep Portland clean and functional, including park rangers, wastewater treatment plant operators, and road maintenance crews, go on strike due to lack of compensation for the increasing demands and dangers of their jobs.
Tiburcio Parrott - Faces Of St. Helena
(Alex Lyman, 2024, 3 min, USA)
The person who overturned the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Fruits of Resistance
(Aline Juárez, 2023, 22 min, Spain)
Mostly immigrant agricultural laborers in huge greenhouses in Andauzia, Spain, organize for pay and respect.
Filmmakers Panel: Laura Lewis-Barr, Paula Krasiun-Winsel, Suzanne Gallant, Thalia Drori Ramirez, Anna Lueck, Nancy LaFortune, and Aline Juárez.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
International Workers Day
DIY Labor Day Parade on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz
Thursday, May 2, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Capitola Branch Library, 2005 Wharf Rd, Capitola
Register to guarantee a seat.
Birth of a Conflict, Episode 1
(Avi Merkado Ettedgui & Yaron Niski, 2022, 55 min, Israel)
This 3-part documentary, informed by newly declassified British diplomatic files, sheds new and surprising light on the British Mandate, the 30 years of British rule in Palestine from 1917 to 1948.
Episode 1: A Conflict Requires a Territory. The British Empire’s arrival in the Middle-East complicated the region by pitting ethnic groups against each other through well-practiced divide-and-conquer colonial management techniques.
Discussion led by UCSC professor Bruce Thompson.
Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival.
Missed This Event? Watch all 3 episodes of Birth of a Conflict on ChaiFlicks (with a free 7-day trial subscription).
Friday, May 3, 2024 • 7 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Freeway Fighters
Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life
(Lawrence Hott & Tom Lewis, 1997, 87 min, USA)
America’s desire for freedom and the open road resulted in the construction of thousands of highways during the Eisenhower administration. Through interviews, archival footage and photography, America’s interstate highway system is revealed to have shaped every aspect of American life and affected the nation’s history for better and for worse.
Speakers: Katherine Beiers and Gary Patton.
Sponsors: Sierra Club, Campaign for Sustainable Transportation.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film Divided Highways on YouTube.
Saturday, May 4, 2024 • 1:30 PM
Mt Calvary Lutheran Church, 2402 Cabrillo College Dr, Soquel
Labor Song Circle
Aileen Vance brings her “Rise Up! Community Song Circle” to the festival with “We Do the Work!” a program of labor songs to celebrate International Workers Day. Aileen, along with special guests Julie Olsen Edwards and Bonnie Lockhart will be performing and leading the songs of working people past and present. Together we are mighty; all organizing goes better when we sing together!
Song Leaders: Aileen Vance, Julie Olsen Edwards and Bonnie Lockhart.
Sunday, May 5, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
Israelism
(Erin Axelman & Sam Eilertsen, 2024, 84 min, USA & Israel)
Portrays the heavy socialization of young people in many Zionist households in the US and Israel, as told by a few who later questioned that world view.
Prerecorded Q&A with activist Simone Zimmerman followed by live discussion.
Music by Robby & Friends.
Co-sponsors: Resource Center for Nonviolence, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz for Bernie, Palestine Justice Committee.
Watch the trailer for Israelism on YouTube.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film Israelism on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play or other streaming services.
Monday, May 6, 2024 • 6:30 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
6:30 PM Santa Cruz Peace Chorale
7:00 PM Film
The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane
(Maureen Gosling, Jed Riff & Nina Menéndez, 2023, 108 min, USA)
An underground history of a singer-agitator previously overlooked by many storytellers of American history. Dane’s unbending principles guide her through notoriety, obscurity, and finally, music legend.
Speakers: Maureen Gosling & Jed Riffe, filmmakers.
Music; Santa Cruz Peace Chorale.
Watch the trailer for The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane on YouTube.
Missed This Event? Check the website for The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane for future viewing options.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
SEIU 521 Union Hall, 517 Mission St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza
(Caryl Churchill, 2009, 10 min, UK)
Local actors who are members of Santa Cruz Jews for a Free Palestine offer a dramatic reading of this short play spanning seven decades of Jewish/Israeli history, written by British playwright Caryl Churchill, known for addressing the abuse of power in her plays. Written in 2009 in response to Israel’s 2008/9 assault on the Gaza Strip, the play was blasted by critics and press and labeled anti-Semitic, yet opened to full houses at the Royal Court in London.
Missed This Event? Several versions of the play are posted on YouTube.
5 Broken Cameras
(Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat, 2011, 94 min, Palestine)
A Palestinian farmer’s chronicle of his village of Bil’in in the West Bank including their nonviolent resistance to the building of a separation barrier cutting of their lands for a settlement and the repressive actions of the Israeli army.
Audience discussion follows the film.
Co-sponsors: Resource Center for Nonviolence, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz for Bernie, Palestine Justice Committee.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film 5 Broken Cameras on YouTube.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Capitola Branch Library, 2005 Wharf Rd, Capitola
Register to guarantee a seat.
Birth of a Conflict, Episode 2
(Avi Merkado Ettedgui & Yaron Niski, 2022, 55 min, Israel)
Episode 2: The story of how the Jewish-Arab conflict turned from a territorial quarrel between two national movements into a religious conflict. During this period, the Great Arab Revolt against British rule was crushed with brutal collective punishment including indiscriminate bombing and house destruction.
Discussion led by UCSC professor Bruce Thompson.
Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival.
Missed This Event? Watch all 3 episodes of Birth of a Conflict on ChaiFlicks (with a free 7-day trial subscription).
Friday, May 10, 2024 • 7 PM
Workers of the World
Virtual event.
Drifting
(Somnur Vardar, 2023, 67 min, Turkey)
While watching the dramatic changes in urban texture, we meet two young Kurdish cousins working in construction, just like their fathers and grandfathers did for decades. They both dream of becoming teachers, wanting to break the vicious cycle of construction work. From dormitories to May Day street protests, we get glimpses of their life, hearing their stories of struggle, resistance, families, their hopes and dreams.
Speaker: Somnur Vardar, filmmaker.
Watch the trailer for Drifting on Vimeo.
Saturday, May 11, 2024 • 2 PM
Felton Branch Library, 6121 Gushee St, Felton
Being 80
(Bob Gliner, 2024, 56 min, Santa Cruz County, USA)
This local documentary was shown on PBS in February and showcases a diverse range of vibrant, unique and memorable 80 year olds still finding meaning in their lives through long lived career choices contradicting the stereotype that their minds and bodies are obsolete in a world where only younger generations can make the world work.
Speakers: Bob Gliner, filmmaker; Cathy Cress, gerontologist.
Music by Patti Maxine.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film Being 80 on PBS.
Saturday, May 11, 2024 • 7 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
UNION
(Stephen Maing & Brett Story, 2023, 104 min, USA)
A group of current and former Amazon workers at a warehouse in New York City’s Staten Island challenges one of the world’s largest corporations in a successful unionization drive.
Watch the trailer for UNION on Mubi.
Missed This Event? Sign up for the newsletter on the website for UNION for updates on future viewing options.
Thursday, May 16, 2024 • 7 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Capitola Branch Library, 2005 Wharf Rd, Capitola
Register to guarantee a seat.
Birth of a Conflict, Episode 3
(Avi Merkado Ettedgui & Yaron Niski, 2022, 55 min, Israel)
Episode 3: The Fall of Empires. The downfall of the Arab national movement was concurrent with the rise of the Zionist movement as it made its journey towards creating a Jewish state, all in a decade marked by World War II and the collapse of the British Empire.
Discussion led by UCSC professor Bruce Thompson.
Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival.
Missed This Event? Watch all 3 episodes of Birth of a Conflict on ChaiFlicks (with a free 7-day trial subscription).
Saturday, May 18, 2024 • 7 PM
Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
Hybrid event.
A Thousand Pines
(Sebastián Díaz, 2023, 77 min, Mexico & USA)
In this tale of labor and family that shines a light on the precarity of temporary work visas, Raymundo Morales leads a crew of workers who have to make the challenging decision to leave their families in rural Mexico to plant commercial pine forests in the United States.
Speakers: Sebastián Díaz, filmmaker, and Angeles Moreno, graphic designer.
Missed This Event? Watch the full film A Thousand Pines free on PBS through 6/30/24, then with membership.
Sunday, May 19, 2024 • 2 PM
Urban Arts Collaborative, 21 Soledad St Suite C, Salinas
A Thousand Pines
(Sebastián Díaz, 2023, 77 min, Mexico & USA)
(See film description for previous event.).
Speakers: Sebastián Díaz, filmmaker
Watch the trailer for A Thousand Pines on YouTube.
Saturday, June 15, 2024 • 5 PM
Luna Gallery, 107 B The Alameda, San Juan Bautista
Mural Artists
5 PM: Art Reception for exhibition
Beyond the Wall: Celebrating Chicano/a Latino/a Mural Artists
6 PM: Panel Speakers:
Ralph D' Oliveira, and Carmen Leon, Muralists;
Eugenia Renteria, Director, Strawberry Picker by Inspira Studios, Watsonville
7 PM Film:
Strawberry Picker
(Photo by Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)
(Eugenia Renteria, 2023, 20 min, USA)
From a little boy growing- up in labor camps to a world-class artist, a look at generations of struggle and resilience in the Chicano Art Community through the experiences of Juan R. Fuente. Featuring mural mosaics in Watsonville.
Watch the trailer for Strawberry Picker on Vimeo.
Sunday, June 23, 2024 • 6:30 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Center for Spiritual Living, 1818 Felt St, Santa Cruz 95062
Where Olive Trees Weep
(Zaya & Mauricio Benazzo, 2024, 104 min, Palestine)
A searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice. The film follows, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, Israeli journalist Amira Hass, and the trauma-healing work of Dr. Gabor Maté. Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives. This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
Facilitated dialogue with the audience follows the film.
Co-sponsored by Moment of Truth with Ami Chen Mills.
Watch the trailer of Where Olive Trees Weep on YouTube.
Stream the full film at bit.ly/RW-WOTW.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 • 6:30 PM
Understanding Gaza Series
Somos café & community center, 112 East Beach St, Watsonville 95076
Where Olive Trees Weep
(Zaya & Mauricio Benazzo, 2024, 104 min, Palestine)
(See description under June 23rd event.)
Facilitated dialogue with the audience follows the film.
Watch the trailer of Where Olive Trees Weep on YouTube.
Stream the full film at bit.ly/RW-WOTW.
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