Blue Box

• Date: 27 November 18:30 - 21:00
• Location: Nieuwspoort

Movies that Matter and Nieuwspoort are joining forces for a series of film programs with in-depth discussions. In these programs we try to interpret complex issues through film. Expect an evening of powerful stories, profound conversations and meaningful encounters. The first edition will take place on Monday, November 27 at 7:00 pm.

We screen the film Blue Box (Michal Weits, 2021) with English subtitles. Filmmaker Michal Weits delves into the past of her great-grandfather Joseph Weits who, with money from the Jewish National Fund's (JNF) Blue Box campaign, purchased and expropriated Palestinian land. In conversations with her family, Michal Weits questions her great-grandfather's actions.

Guests include Dina Zbeidy and Erella Grassiani. The moderation is in the hands of Bahram Sadeghi. The language of the post-talk is Dutch.

Together after the film, the guest speakers will discuss how current narratives have emerged, from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. Which narrative is used by the authority figure and what happens when you question it? How is this going on in Israel and Palestine and how does this affect them and the world? In particular: how does this affect us in the Netherlands?

About the film
The Jewish National Fund's (JNF) Blue Box campaign was internationally successful in raising support for the purchase and afforestation of land in Palestine. The trees have since spread their roots, but there is still a trace of the Palestinian communities displaced by the once fragile cuttings. Joseph Weits, the great-grandfather of filmmaker Michal Weits, was a key figure in the organization. His private diaries reveal the story of the massive land seizure that led to the creation of the state of Israel. In conversations with her family, she questions his actions, resulting in an exploration of Israel's past and an uncomfortable truth.

About the guests
Dina Zbeidy
Dr. Dina Zbeidy is an anthropologist and lecturer-researcher at Leiden University of Applied Sciences. She has research experience in topics such as "refugees and displacement," "nationalism" and "settler colonialism," and work experience with human rights organizations in the Netherlands and Palestine.

Erella Grassiani
Erella Grassiani is associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She studies the Israeli security industry and its impact on human rights worldwide. She also focuses on nationalist militias and social movements in Israel, and examines the politics of trees in her project on tree nationalism.

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