Film screening: 1948 (Middle East Centre Seminar)

Speakers: Avi Shlaim (St Antony's) and Eugene Rogan (St Antony's)

Synopsis:

Through riveting and moving personal recollections of both Palestinians and Israelis, 1948: Creation & Catastrophe reveals the shocking events of the most pivotal year in the most controversial conflict in the world.  It tells the story of the establishment of Israel as seen through the eyes of the people who lived it. It is simply not possible to make sense of what is happening in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today without an understanding of 1948.  This documentary was the last chance for many of its Israeli and Palestinian characters to narrate their first-hand accounts of the creation of a state and the expulsion of a nation. 

Bios:

Andy Trimlett (Director/Co-Producer) has a Master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution from San Diego State University. He has a decade of experience in public television, having served as senior producer, associate producer, editor and camera operator on a wide range of productions.  He has worked on PBS programs in the United States, Hungary and Austria, winning a regional Emmy for a 30-minute documentary he co-produced about property tax law in California. 

Ahlam Muhtaseb (Co-Director/Co-Producer) earned her B.A. in English Language and Literature from Hebron University. With the help of a Fulbright grant from the U.S. government, she earned her M.A. in Government Relations, and her Ph.D. in Mass Communication/Media Studies from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. She is a Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, San Bernardino teaching classes in media studies since 2003. Her research interests include digital communication, social media, social movements, and diasporic communities. She has published her scholarship on digital communication and other communication sub-topics, and has presented her scholarship to national and international conventions and scholarly meetings. Muhtaseb has conducted extensive field work in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. Her most recent research is focused on digital media and the Arab Spring, with a special emphasis on cyber-activism and online social movements. Her previous film experience includes performing research for John Odam’s 2012 documentary Minarets in Temecula about the controversy over building a mosque in Temecula Valley, California.