Udi Aloni, an Israeli-American filmmaker intellectual, artist and activist for the rights of the Palestinian people and the renowned Berlin-based Palestinian singer-songwriter Rasha Nahas meet on 15 March at the ENEKEN multi-purpose venue in Thessaloniki to talk about Palestinians and Jews in co resistant and Gaza’s current.

The event is organized and moderated by independent left-wing MEP Stelios Kouloglou. It’s worth mentioning that the Berlin Festival, the second largest European festival, is awarding the two major prizes to a documentary that takes a stand for the Palestinian people, signed by two journalists, one from Israel and one from Palestine.

Udi Aloni is a well known filmmaker, writer, artist and activist whose work focuses on the interrelations between art, politics and philosophy in Israeli-Palestinian history and German-Jewish theology.

His documentary, Local Angel (2002), and his first feature fiction, Forgiveness (2006), are both radical interpretations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that have provoked reactions in the Middle East and internationally. Aloni also directed Kashmir: Journey to Freedom (2008), a documentary on the non-violent movement for liberation and freedom in Jammu and Kashmir, which opened at the Berlin International Film Festival. His other films Art/Violence (2013) and Junction 48 on the Palestinian hip hop and theater scene and struggle received a critical acclaim and the award of many festivals including the Berlinale and Tribeca film festival. His recent film Why Is We Americans? Is on the black Marxist family of Amiri Baraka. His book WHAT DOES A JEW WANT? Represents the dialogue Aloni has with some of the top thinkers of our time like Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Alain Badoiu.

He was the head of the film program at the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp. After the assassination of Juliano Mer Khamis, founder and head of the theatre, in 2011, Aloni directed an Arabic adaptation of Waiting for Godot with the graduate students, a production that toured in Europe and  New York City.

«Nahas has the theatricality of a Weimar cabaret with added violins and rockabilly,» – wrote The Guardian of the multi-instrumentalist Palestinian singer-songwriter, who lives in Berlin and has audiences around the world.

Nahas has crafted a strongly unique musical universe, cultivated and loyal to the underground. Driven by honest lyrics with disarming vulnerability. She has toured throughout Europe, South America, the UK and West Asia, including performances at SIM São Paulo, Glastonbury Festival, MIDEM, Sziget, and Palestine Music Expo.

In 2021, she released her critically acclaimed, theatrical-poetic rock debut album, «Desert», which chronicled her journey from Haifa to Berlin. It was featured on BBC4’s Loose Ends, the Spotify-produced podcast, Spotify:Mic Check, as well as extensive national and international TV and radio coverage.

Following its release, Nahas made a special appearance at the Teddy Awards ceremony at the Berlin International Film Festival,  featured at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton and was among the first recipients of the Bertha Foundation Artivism Award.

Her second LP, «Amrat», released in 2023 by the leading independent British label Cooking Vinyl, was Rasha’s first attempt at Arabic-language lyrics. An emotional work laden with nostalgia, “Amrat” is a two-chapter album that seamlessly meanders between the thematic duality of urban and rural landscapes.  It was recorded at 67 Studio in the Occupied Golan Heights, with contributions from some of the most influential musicians in the indie scene in Palestine.

Nahas also has extensive experience as a writer and composer for film and theatre productions, including writing a series of pieces for Berlin’s performing arts scene and Hamburg’s Thalia Theater.

Friday 15

19.00

ENEKEN