About this project
We have reached our Kickstarter campaign target and are more than halfway to the finish line in raising the money we need to complete and distribute “Where Should the Birds Fly?”
If we can reach $35,000 by December 31, the film will be distributed in January.
Please continue to donate generously and email your friends and lists and urge them to support this project. All donations are tax deductible.
We are extremely grateful to everyone who donated to get us to this target so quickly.
Where Should The Birds Fly is the first film about Gaza made by Palestinians. It is the story of two young women, survivors of Israel's Operation Cast Lead. Mona Samouni, now 12 years old and the filmmaker, Fida Qishta, now 27, represent the spirit and future of Palestinians. The film is a visual documentation of the Goldstone Report. But it is so much more. It reveals the strength and hope, the humanity and humor that flourishes among the people of Gaza..
We held a small screening of the film in NYC last week and got a very warm, positive reception. One comment, from an organizer of the US Boat to Gaza, seemed particularly appropriate. “Our campaign focused a bright spotlight on Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza, but we weren’t able to bring our passengers to port in Gaza City. This film brings the people of Gaza to us and to the rest of the world.”
The film itself breaks Israel’s blockade of the hopes and dreams of Palestinians to lead a normal life.
Supporting “Where Should the Birds Fly?” would be a great gift to a friend. If you would like to receive one of the premiums offered to supporters in time to give it as a holiday gift, just send us an email and let us know that. (Otherwise the premiums will be sent out sometime in January.)
Please support the completion of this film as generously as you can with your tax-deductible donation. We are in the final stages of the edit and must complete the sound engineering and other post-production work.
FAQ
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130
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$21,890
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on December 31.
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A copy of the DVD "Fallujah - We Had to Destroy the City to Save It," a collaborative production of Iraqi and American Filmmakers.
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A copy of the Fallujah DVD plus the DVD "Iraqi Women Speak Out," a Code Pink/Deep Dish TV production.
Pledge $26 or more Pledge $26 or more
The 2 DVDs + A beautiful color poster created by young people in Gaza.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
"Where Should the Birds Fly" T-Shirt, color poster, and the DVDs.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
T-Shirt, poster and DVD of extended Interviews with Mona Samouni, the young girl in the film.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
All of the above + a DVD copy of the film and a credit in the film.
Project By
Connected
Fida Qishta began her work as a journalist in 2006, writing letters to friends in Europe as the Egyptians and Israelis kept her and 500 others trapped inside the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza for 3 weeks. Her letters were published in British newspapers. She worked as an interpreter for international observers in Gaza and used her video skills to document the daily life of Palestinians under siege in Gaza. In 2010 she came to the U.S. with over 70 hours of film and was put in contact with Deep Dish TV to help her make this film.
Since 1986, Deep Dish has been a laboratory for new, democratic and empowering ways to make and distribute video. It is a hub linking thousands of artists, independent videomakers, programmers and social activists. The network has produced and distributed over 300 hours of television series that challenge the suppression of awareness, the corruption of language, and the perversion of logic that characterizes so much of corporate media.
The Middle East has been a major focus of the work of Deep Dish TV. In 1991 it produced a 10 part series, "The Gulf Crisis TV Project. In 2004 a 12 part series "Shocking and Awful" documented the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. In 2008 "Iraqi Women Speak Out" followed 6 Iraqi women as the spoke to thousands of people in the U.S., urging them to end the war on Iraq. "Gaza-A Call to Act" and "Transforming Palestine-Israel" in 2009 responded to the Israelis 23 day war on Gaza. Deep Dish is a non-profit organization that relies on your generous donations to support the production and distribution of our videos. Your donations are tax exempt.
