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Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 18:00 Europe; 17:00 UK; 19:00 Palestine, running time, 87 minutes, English, Arabic & Hebrew language, English narration & subtitles. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with Osnat Trabelsi, film producer.

SYNOPSIS
A theatre workshop with children of the Jenin refugee camp was filmed from 1989 to 2003 by Juliano, a prominent actor in Palestine and Israel, and Arna's son. In the film, Juliano moves us between past and present to tell the kids' stories and the role of art as a weapon against the Occupation. In 2011, Juliano was shot to death in front of the same theatre.

Arna came from a Jewish Zionist family and had met Juliano’s Palestinian father in the Communist party. She established an alternative educational system in Jenin in the West Bank to replace the formal one which was practically paralysed by the Israeli occupation. In Juliano's words: "Yussef committed a suicide attack. Ashraf was killed in the battle of Jenin. Alla leads a fighting troupe. I, Juliano, directed them from 1989 – 1996 in the Freedom Theatre since they were small children. In 2002, I returned to the ruins of the camp with my camera, to see what happened to the children I loved…My film tries to tell and understand their story and choices."

Juliano Mer Khamis, film director.
Juliano Mer-Khamis (1958-2011) was a Palestinian actor, director, and activist. He founded The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine, and made films like _Arna's Children. A peace advocate, he was tragically assassinated in 2011.

Osnat Trabelsi, film producer.