Narratives: Premiere in Germany!

"We could have either stood there in front of empty seats or in front of a packed room. Luckily, the latter proved to be true.“ — Julian Klauke

After one year of intense preparations, site visits for interviews and post-production efforts, the short-film, "Narratives,“ was put to an audience test at the 2014 Global Citizenship Conference in New Orleans. Encouraged by the positive response and plenty of useful advice, the Project Team decided to take the next step and show the documentary at a public screening at Friedrich Schiller University, in Jena, Germany on November 20th, 2014.

More than 60 people filled the small room, sitting on chairs and tables, to watch the movie and discuss its contents and production with the project team members. The members were surprised by the unusually high attendance, showing the importance of the topic and the approach. Many questions were raised about the background of the project, the trip to the region, the intentions and next steps.

Two attending Palestinians and Israeli Arabs offered their perspectives on the situation in the region and the impact of personal stories. The positive feedback, critical questions and advice will be taken back into discussions inside the project team to help improve it further.

In February the Project Team will present their documentary at University Marburg in Germany, during the university's "War and Peace" film festival. Other screenings in Melton Foundation countries are being planned, and the possibilitity of having a joint event in Israel-Palestine is being evaluated as well.