PUNK IS POLITICS MOVIE NITE PRESENTS:  ENCORE SHOWING OF "THE DUPES" (Al-makhdu'un, 1972)

Tewfik Saleh‘s film THE DUPES (“Al-makhdu’un”, 1972) follows the story of three Palestinian men, Abu Qais (Mohamed Kheir-Halouani), Assad (Bassan Lofti Abou-Ghazala), and Marwan (Saleh Kholoki) who for various reasons attempt to escape their precarious lives to find prosperity in Kuwait. The film opens with a quote; “A man with no country, will have no grave in the Earth, I forbid you to leave”.

 Though the three men are aware that the journey through the desert is long and dangerous, they decide to put their lives in the hands of Abul Khaizuran (Abdul Rahman Al Rashi), a retired military man who promises them a way through the border in an empty water tank.

 Slowly, as the plot unwinds we are told the stories of the characters and begin to understand the circumstances which led to this ultimate state of desperation, the need to escape. Abu Qais is an older man with a wife and children living in a run down refugee camp with no prospects or vision for a worthwhile future. Having no source of stable income or plan, he is sold on the idea of Kuwait when another man returns to flaunt his success.

 Abu Qais is convinced that the only way forth is elsewhere. Assad is a young man desperate for the freedom to live his life without financial dependency on his uncle. He is also a radical hiding from Jordanian authorities. Marwan is a young boy who after being abandoned by his father, is forced to leave his education in order to provide for his mother and younger siblings. Despite their difference in age and situation, the three men have two things in common, they are Palestinian and they are desperate for a way out.

BONUS!  Selected clips from the Japanese Film  "RED ARMY - P.F.L.P: A DECLARATION OF WORLD WAR"

RED ARMY - P.F.L.P: A DECLARATION OF WORLD WAR (1971) was milestone of film as activism, cinema as movement. Director Koji Wakamatsu went to Beirut on the way back from the Cannes Film Festival. There, in collaboration with the Red Army members and the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), they produced this newsreel film depicting the everyday activities of Arab guerrillas as a cinematic narrative on the world revolution.  Featuring interviews with Leila Khalid and Fusako Shigenobu.