Palestine Youth Media Festival
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Showcasing Youth Voices in an Annual Media Festival in Ramallah, West Bank

Each year, Voices Beyond Walls holds screenings and exhibitions of the work emerging from these workshops throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as at universities and festivals in the United States and abroad.

The First Palestine Youth Media Festival, showcasing a selection of video shorts from workshops conducted in summer 2008, was held at the Ramallah Cultural Palace in Ramallah, West Bank on August 23rd, 2008 in cooperation with the Ramallah Municipality and the Al-Qattan Foundation.

Workshop facilitators and youth attended the screening from Balata, Aida, Ramallah and Shufat refugee camps. Transportation was provided for all attendees from the workshops and refreshments were served as well. Due to time constraints only selected shorts were screened in the final program at the Ramallah Cultural Palace (with introductions by representatives of each center), after a brief overview of the workshops by Raed Yacoub and Nitin Sawhney.

The youth were excited at the final screening and were proud with the work they accomplished. Such a feeling after a long workshop is both rewarding and promising for the youth. For example, program coordinator Raed Yacoub reported how youth, particularly from Shufat RC were enthusiastic about their work as indicated by their warm appreciation and the delight he observed in their faces after the screening.