See article below:
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"New Orleans Middle East Film Festival cranks up today"
By Mike Scott,
The New Orleans Times-Picayune
November 12, 2009, 12:24PM
On the Web at:
http://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/11/new_orleans_middle_east_film_f.html
Originally, the New Orleans Middle East Film Festival was to be held every two years because of the limited number of films available from countries in the region. That was the plan, anyway.
Apparently, Middle Eastern filmmakers had other ideas. With a wealth of films from or about the Middle East at his disposal, organizer Rene Broussard has turned the festival into an annual event...
...One thing from years past that attendees won't see is a strong presence from Israeli filmmakers. That's by design, Broussard said.
"The first two years we had a very strong presence from Israel. This year, all of the films that deal with Israel are from the point of view of the Palestinians," he said. "I was reluctant (to do that) in the first few years of the film festival, because I wasn't doing a Palestinian film festival, I was doing a Middle East film festival -- I was trying to get a very balanced point of view.
"But after the invasion (of Gaza) and Israel's refusal to let rebuilding materials in, I decided to join the international call for a cultural boycott of Israel," Broussard said. "I know I'm going to get heat from it, but ..."
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