This Is Palestine isn't just for art lovers – there are some great films screening over the course of the week, too, and Goal Dreams is a particular highlight. The documentary follows the fortunes of the Palestinian national football team as they prepare for the most important match of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, a vital "home" tie against Uzbekistan that could see them through to the finals. Beyond the challenges that face any minor footballing nation entering a competition with the world's elite, the Palestinian team face a whole set of their own unique problems: the team are scattered around the world in locations from the West Bank to Chile and the United States; players from Gaza are unable to join their teammates for training in Egypt when Israel closes the Rafah border and the team are forced to play their "home" games in a virtually empty stadium in Qatar as Fifa doesn't consider Palestine a secure location.
This screening represents the Gulf premiere of Goal Dreams, which has already screened in cinemas or on television in the US, France, the United Kingdom and, touchingly, projected onto the apartheid wall around East Jerusalem. The film may be eight years old, but it remains just as relevant today. As the director Maya Sanbar explains: "I'm still in touch with the team and things are worse now rather than better. The border crossings out of Gaza are more difficult, the wall has made things tough for the ones living in the West Bank and the funding that once existed from abroad, when I made the film, has dried up. It's not very happy news."
Goal Dreams screens at 3.30pm on Sunday, March 16 at Meydan Cinema. Tickets are Dh50 and the screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the director
There's a whole lot more music, comedy, theatre, film and discussions taking place over the course of the festival. The hip-hop legend Shadia Mansour takes to the stage on Saturday and Najla Edward Said will be performing highlights from her one-woman, Off-Broadway hit Palestine on Friday. There's live stand-up comedy from Amer Zahr and Maysoon Zayid on the evening of Monday, March 17, and celluloid comedy on Tuesday, March 18 with the Gulf premiere of No Laughing Matter, a documentary that sets out in search of the Palestinian sense of humour. For more details of these events, and many more besides, check out the full programme at www.alhoush.com.
