Satellite Shooters (The)

  • Satellite Shooters (The)
Type : Fiction
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 2001
Format : Short
Running time : 16 (in minutes)
http://www.philistinefilms.org/page1.html

Synopsis

Using the conventions of the Western genre, "The Satellite Shooters" satirically tells the story of Tawfiq, a young Palestinian boy in Texas trying to find his place in America, and The Kid, a local gunslinger. The film is a critique of the imagination that the Western arises from - that fantasy land wherein masculine idealizations and racial hierarchies lead to the prevailing cowboy hero and his stunted sidekick. "The Satellite Shooters" is also a story of assimilation and the immigrant experience. Orientalism meets Occidentalism when Tawfiq and The Kid embark upon a mission to change the world. But things don't turn out like they do in the movies....


A film by Annemarie Jacir
USA/Palestine, 2001


Shooting format: 16mm, Color
Running Time: 16 minutes
Country of Production: Palestine/USA
Date of Completion: April 2001
Sound: Optical
Reels: 1 reel (570 feet or 180 meters)
Languages: English & Arabic w/English subtitles

Written and directed by Annemarie Jacir
Producers: Dee Evans & Jennifer Smith
Director of Photography: Catherine Rios
Editing: Angela Alston & Kirsten Sandberg
Sound: Federico Gonzales
Music: Kamran Rastegar
Actors: Mohammed Assi, Clark Pendery, Maha Rassas, Iyad Sadi, Leila Kiblawi, Marc Menchaca

Annemarie Kattan Jacir...Writer/Director
Dee Evans & Jennifer Smith...Producers
Catherine Rios...Director of Photography
Halim Jabbour....Casting Director
Tyler Burke...Line Producer
Hiyam Abousaid...Associate Producer
Lisa Lafayette...Production Coordinator
Ann Marsland & Kim Greenough...Art Directors
Jeremy Haak...1st Assistant Director
Max Simpson...2nd Assistant Director
Greg McDaniel...2nd 2nd Assistant Director
Luiz Martinez...Set P.A.
Hiyam Abousaid...1st Assistant Camera
Michael Fleetwood...2nd Assistant Camera
Ricky Long...Key Grip
Gary Caudle...Company Grip
James Soward...Gaffer
Chris Withrow...Company Electric
Jamie Courville...Script Supervisor
Francis McIntyre...Locations Manager
Kamran Rastegar..Original Music
Philip Palmer...Sound Mixer
Pete Verrando...Sound Mixer
Mike Wilks...Boom Operator
Lesa Faust...Boom Operator
Phyllis Detrich...Special Effects/Props
James Soward & Ricky Long...Electrical Effects
Lakisha Slaughter...Costume Designer
Kristine Hawley...Key Make-Up/Hair Stylist
Mark Waggy & Amy Weber..Still Photographers


Press

"Another little gem to watch for is Satellite Shooters (United States-Palestine) by Annemarie Jacir. Tawfiq, an Arab youth in America seduced by the language, manner and dress of the Hollywood western proposes to hook up with fellow west-obsessed "The Kid." But this white-bread American turns his nose up at Tawfiq, until he finds out he's from Bethlehem: "Just like the baby Jesus." The Kid decides that someone from "The Holy Land" would make a perfect virtuous partner, and they embark on a crusade to clean up all the un-modest evils spread by satellite dishes. The combination of hokey, regurgitated cowboy-speak with low-tech acting, suburban surreal situations (like when things get too hot and they have to hide out at Tawfiq's family's home) and the metaphorical implications of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations makes for good entertainment and food for thought."

- MetroTimes, May 2002, Detroit, MI


Awards

Kathyrn H. Parlan Screenwriting Award at Columbia University
Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in Screenwriting

Competition Selection

Arab Screen Independent Film Festival, Doho/Qatar, 2001

Festivals

Leeds International Film Festival - UK, October 2002
Biennale des Cinemas Arabes - Paris, July 2002
Greek Cultural Center Independent Film Showcase - Astoria, Queens, June 2002
The Middle Eastern and North African Film Festival - Detroit, May 2002
Chicago Palestine Film Festival - April 2002
Canada Reel World Film Festival - April 2002, in Toronto, Canada.
Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival - March 2002
Boston Underground Film Festival - Feb 2002
San Francisco Asian American Film Fest
San Francisco Arab Film Festival
Sakakini Center - Ramallah, Palestine, August 2001
Bite The Mango Festival - UK, 2001
Semarang International Film Festival - Indonesia, 2001
Filmfest Augsburg - Germany, December 2001
Arab Screen Independent Filmfestival - Doha, Qatar, March 2001
Columbia University New Directors Fest - New York, April 2001

Distributors

In USA: philistine films (Brooklyn, USA) - www.philistine.org
In Europe: MEC film (Münster, Germany) - www.mecfilm.de

Articles

1 files

Organizations

1 files

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

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