The Chicago Palestine Film Festival committee is very excited to announce the selections and schedule for our 7th annual film festival. Our 14 selections this year come from Palestinian, American, European and other filmmakers. The festival will take place between April 25 and May 8 at the Siskel Film Center.

Our opening night film is SlingShot Hip Hop, a documentary about Palestinian hip-hop and youth culture. Jackie Reem Salloum spotlights a vibrant hip-hop scene where artists discover the form and employ it to express themselves and their perspectives on occupation, dispossession and poverty. The film follows several different artists, including DAM, a group of Palestinian artists and activists from Israel who have seen commercial success in Europe, PR (Palestinian Rapperz), who have developed their hip hop art forms in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, and soloist Abeer and the group Arapeyat, who are redefining gender roles and shaking cultural traditions. Filmmaker Jackie Salloum will present her film in person on opening night, April 25 at 8:15 p.m.

Also on Sunday, May 4, emerging filmmaker Osama Qashoo will present a selection of work, including his latest film Soy Palestino. The film is based on Qashoo's travels to Cuba, where he found an underclass of people called Palestinos by their more privileged Habanero countrymen. Qashoo's other films explore Palestinian identity outside the homeland from the perspective of a Palestinian who had never left his country before. Inside Outside and No Choice Basis will also be screened.

On Sunday, May 4, we have the North American premiere of Ryuichi Hirokawa's documentary Palestine 1948 NAKBA. Drawn to Israel in 1967 by the Hebrew language and the Kibbutz movement, he began to ask questions about the ruins of a Palestinian village upon which the Kibbutz was built. Hirokawa wanted to discover what happened to the villagers of Daliyat al-Rawha. The film is the culmination of the director's 40 year career as a photo journalist. There is only one screening for this two hour film, and it really cannot be missed!

We have many other wonderful films this year, and you can learn about them all at our web site: www.palestinefilmfest.com.

All screenings are at the Siskel Film Center, Chicago's premier venue for independent and world cinema, located at 164 N. State St.

Tickets to movies are $9 general admission, $7 students, $4 for students and faculty of the School of the Art Institute and staff of the Art Institute, and $5 for Film Center members. Tickets may be purchased at the Film Center Box Office, which opens at 5 p.m. on weekdays and at 2 p.m. on weekends. General admission tickets are also available through Ticketmaster, 312-575-8000, www.ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information, call the Film Center at 312-846-2800 (24-hour movie hotline) or 312-846-2600 (general information, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday), or log on www.siskelfilmcenter.org.

The 7th Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival 2008 is generously sponsored by The Crossroads Fund for Social Change, Electronic Intifada and The Jerusalem Fund. Please consider making a donation to the film festival. Our postal address is at the bottom of this message.

The Chicago Palestine Film Festival (CPFF) is an independent, not-for-profit, nonsectarian project based in Chicago that exhibits and promotes films by Palestinian directors and films about Palestine. CPFF is dedicated to presenting a film festival that is open, critical, and reflective of the culture, experience and vision of the filmmakers.

The Festival began in 2001 and continues to be organized by a group of dedicated volunteers. We are supported by a local community of individuals, small businesses, and organizations. The Chicago Palestine Film Festival is a program service of the Middle East Cultural and Charitable Society, a 501(c)3 charitable organization