Thursday March 31, 2011
7pm at The Schonell Cinema, University of Queensland
Featuring discussion with director Michael Weatherhead and Samah Sabawi – Australian-Palestinian writer, co-author of Journey to Peace in Palestine and a former executive director of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations.
$10/$5 concession
Contacts: Ian 0407 687 016, Don 3358 4385
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The story of a refugee who tries to go back. A One Hour Documentary Directed & Written by Michael Weatherhead Produced by Chantal Denoux © 2010 One Planet Films All Rights Reserve
Short Synopsis
Gaza is Fetah Sabawi’s ancestral home. He dreams of going back there to live. He wants to teach music to refugee children. He sets off with his wife and kids for Gaza. He wants to be part of the solution. What chance does he have of achieving any of these things? Return To Gaza reveals a deeply personal insight into the problems of the Middle East conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian-Australian who was born a refugee and tries to return.
Long Synopsis 
‘Return To Gaza’ is a personal insight into the Middle East Conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian Australian, born on a refugee camp in Jordan, who wants to return to Gaza with his family.
This 53 minute documentary covers the difficult journey of Fetah Sabawi, a successful musician whose dreams of peace takes him from Australia to Gaza through Egypt, Israel & the West Bank to Gaza. With his wife, Ola and their two children, Sabawi plans to move to Gaza to head-up a project, funded by UN, to teach music to children. A new life for a rock star going into a war zone.
Sabawi’s amazing journey coincides with the first Palestinian elections since the beginning of Gaza and the West Bank’s occupation and the subsequent election of Hamas. In this film, we discover with our protagonist the Israeli invasion of Gaza and the response from the West. His journey and fate are punctuated by the dramatic events of the Middle East and the involvement of world’s leaders as we see statements from Palestinian President Abbas, US Vice President Biden and US Secretary of State Clinton.
Including interviews with the former Ambassador to Egypt, Monzer Eldajani, the elected Hamas member Dr Yusuf al-Shrafi, the acclaimed Australian author Antony Loewenstein and Israeli Peace activists, the film provides a revealing insight into the political minefield of the Palestinian – Israeli conflict and it’s effect on their daily lives amongst the huge walls, check-points and constant military presence.
‘Return to Gaza’ is a poignant story and personal discovery, of a determined westerner and artist facing unbearable issues and losing hope to live one day in Peace in his ancestral home in Gaza.
Central Character
Fetah Sabawi is a successful Melbourne musician whose dreams of peace takes him from Australia to Gaza through Egypt, Israel & West Bank. Fetah Sabawi was born on a refugee camp in Jordan. His family came to Australia when he was seven and he became a professional musician when he left school. He has played in number of successful bands over the years, including Superheist, Karnivool, Revolucion Street and Jericco.
His music from Revolucion Street is features in this documentary. Fetah currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife Ola and their two children but he still has dreams of going back to Gaza to live.
“As much as I feel Australian and as much as I consider Australia to be my country, I’m still an Arab Australian or a Palestinian Australian. I never knew what it was like to grow up in your own neighbourhood amongst your own people, on your own streets, going to your own schools, and growing up speaking your own language and achieving things in your own country. I’ve always lived in other peoples countries.”
Directors Statement – A Great Insight into the Middle East
When the idea for a documentary with Fetah came up, I saw it as a great opportunity to see the Middle East conflict through the eyes of someone who lives in two worlds. While Fetah speaks and behaves like a Westerner, he is also fluent in Arabic and understands Middle Eastern culture. So I felt that Fetah was able to transport a Western audience into the Palestinian world and had the personality to do it well.
It was a pretty exciting time to be in the Middle East. Getting into Gaza was a huge problem, which features in the documentary. There were guns everywhere but with the Palestinian elections, the place was crawling with international film crews, and so both sides were behaving themselves. The only time I felt unsafe was when we had a security contingent escort us around Gaza, driving very fast with serious weapons on their laps.
CREW
Michael Weatherhead, Director
Michael Weatherhead has a particular interest in film, media and business strategy. He has worked for several years in film as a director, producer and writer in documentary following a career in business consulting/management specialising in innovation and entrepreneurship. Michael’s qualifications include a Masters Degree in Entrepreneurship, a Bachelor of Economics, and studies in Film and Education.
Michael is the founder of One Planet Films, a company established to produce documentaries. His projects include:
* Joyfest TVC, 2005, Director/Producer
* The Guru Experience, 2006, 26 min documentary, Producer, (Byron Bay Film Festival 2007)
* Road To Palestine, 2008, 1 hr doco, Producer/Director. (Byron Bay Film Festival 2008)
* Sustainable Living Festival, 2008, Short documentary, Camera/Co-producer
* Return To Gaza, 2010, 1 hr documentary, Director (11 Festivals, 4 Nominations, 2 Awards)
* Soundtrack to Peace, The New Musical Activists, Documentary in production, Director
* Gandhi, Obama & Me, Documentary in production US & Australia, Director
Chantal Denoux, Producer
Chantal Denoux travelled to disparate corners of the world while working as a journalist, producer or writer. She has won awards for her work as a songwriter, actor and producer. Chantal Denoux studied Psychology, Journalism & Filmmaking at Universities in Paris & in Sydney. Before working as a Producer, Executive Producer or Writer for Denoux Films Productions, Chantal worked in Film studios in France & Australia on Animation, Educational Programs, Human Rights films, Corporate Videos and TV Commercials.
Her productions include:
* Danger Zone, action series filmed in Hollywood and on the Gold Coast, Official selection in Oslo, Norway Film Festival & Thailand.
* My Home – Your War, Filmed in Iraq, Winner of 4 Awards for Best documentary, Social & Political issues (New York, Paris, Melbourne) & Selected in 17 International Film Festivals.
* Return To Gaza, Filmed in Israel, Gaza …2 Awards for Best Director (USA), 4 nominations for Best Documentary (UK) & 5 Selections (US, UK, South Africa, Thailand, Australia) at International Film Festivals.
* Valise and Bloke, series of hilarious animated dramas, First ep produced in India.
* 5′ 49” Opération Marco, French co-production Series ‘La Maitrise’, in post production
* Soundtrack to Peace, The New musical Activists, Documentary in production US, UK, Australia 2010-2011
* Gandhi, Obama & Me, Documentary in production US & Australia 2009-10
* Don’t Tell Dad, I’m a Stripper, Documentary in production 2010-2011
* Where is Mum? Feature romantic drama based on a true story in France, Africa and Australia. Production in 2011
* Robin’s Hood Web (working title), Feature drama in Ivory Coast (Africa) In development
Other Crew
Director, Writer Michael Weatherhead
Producer Chantal Denoux
Executive Producer Michael Weatherhead
Director of Photography Adam Arkapaw
Editor Mark Sbarrato
Additional Editing Scott Walmsley
Tim Parish
Script Editing Chantal Denoux
Mark Sbarrato
Sound Engineering Steve Berry, Lulu Madill, Tim Foley
Final Sound Mix Phil Hagstrom, David Gaylard, Ashton Ward
Wild Blue Music
Production Consultants Mark Poole
Andy Bambach
Colour Grade Andy Bambach, In Your Face Productions
Additional Camera Josiane Castilloux
Production Assistants Hilit Levy, Carmel McAloon
Map Designs Carlos Welsby
Translations Nadia Abu Yahia,
Fetah Sabawi
Transcriptions Jenny McMahon
Awards & Festivals
Awards
An Award of Excellence, The Indie Fest Film Awards USA, November 2009
An Award of Merit, Feature Documentary, The Accolade Competition, USA January 2010
Nominations
Best First Film International, Swansea Bay Film Festival 2010
Best Documentary International, International Christian Film Festival 2010
Best Documentary International, Heart of England International Film Festival 2010
Best Film, Chagrin International Documentary Film Festival 2010
Festival Selections
Swansea Bay Film Festival UK, 8-16 May 2010
International Christian Film Festival UK, 1-5 June 2010
International Film Festival Thailand, 6-8 August 2010
Heart of England International Film Festival, 10-15 August 2010
International Film Festival Ireland, 4-11 September 2010
Chagrin International Documentary Film Festival USA, 12-16 October 2010
International Film Festival South Africa, 1-5 November 2010
Gold Coast Film Festival, 10-16 November 2010
International Film Festival Egypt 2010 (Festival Cancelled)
Asia Pacific Screen Awards, November, 2010
Contact
DENOUX FILMS PRODUCTIONS ONE PLANET FILMS Chantal Denoux Michael Weatherhead
Producer Director, Executive Producer, Writer
PO Box 624 PO Box 624
Main Beach Mullumbimby
Qld Australia 4217 NSW Australia 2482
http://www.denouxfilms.net http://www.returntogaza.com
CD@denouxfilms.net soultrek@bigpond.com
+61 419 808 808 +61 412 637 766
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