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part of
double bill #23
The White Elephant
Cinéma du Réel
2018
Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg
2018
Using images shared on the Internet by Israelis during the Gulf War, the First Intifada, and trance music gatherings, Shuruq Harb paints the portrait of a Palestinian teenager in the 1990s. In the midst of Israeli pop culture and the political climate of the Oslo Accords, she comes to grips with her anxiety. It is a confrontational and sometimes darkly humorous testimony that transcends political boundaries and explores personal desires.
Bio Shuruq Harb
Shuruq Harb is an artist, filmmaker, and writer based in Ramallah, Palestine. She is the co-founder of independent art initiatives, such as ArtTerritories and The River Has Two Banks. Her artistic practice focuses on online visual culture, tracing subversive routes for the circulation of images and goods. Her film The White Elephant (2018) received the award for Best Short Film at the Cinéma du Réel Festival in Paris. She is the recipient of the Han Nefkens Foundation – Fundació Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Award (2019).
Shuruq Harb’s The White Elephant is a meticulous composition that claims a new language. Remnants of our shared subconscious are woven into an emotional tapestry. In this film, fractures are visceral, and the political situation is not described but lived. While the Palestinians are confronted with the chronic side-effects of the occupation, the narration keeps going assuredly. It lingers and rearranges our understanding and perception of images.