Academic Screenings

The Indigenous Bedouin Society of the Negev Desert

A series of lectures and screenings with Israeli filmmaker Uri Rosenwaks.

One of Israel's most marginalized groups is the Arab Bedouin of the Negev Desert, located in the southern part of the country. Forced by the Israeli government to relinquish their nomadic way of life and relocate into permanent dwellings, the Bedouin nomadic tribes settled in villages and townships. Still, over half of them reside in "unrecognized" encampments and villages that receive little if any government services. The move to permanent dwelling thus left large parts of Bedouin society in despair, and by all measurable standards (income, employment, health, infant mortality, education, etc.), Bedouin occupy the lowest rung of Israel's socio-economic ladder. While they do try to move forward and progress, they are held back by desert traditions and the discrimination by the Israeli establishment and society.

For more than 8 years now, Israeli filmmaker Uri Rosenwaks has been involved in an ongoing cinematic project in the Bedouin city of Rahat, just north of Beer Sheva. In 2003, Rosenwaks founded a film class for Bedouin women in Rahat. The class, which began as a modest afternoon course for teaching the use of a video–camera, quickly evolved into a full scale documentary workshop that has already resulted in two critically acclaimed and award winning films. "The Film Class", directed by Rosenwaks, premiered in the Jerusalem Film Festival 2006 and won the 2007 Israeli Documentary TV Film of the year award. Back and Forth (2010) which Rosenwaks produced, is made up of four short stories all directed by Bedouin directors in their professional debut. Pointing the camera at themselves and their society, they present an unprecedented and authentic account of their own community and its hardships.

Rosenwaks' long-term commitment to Bedouin society and his continued work as a filmmaker in these communities has gained him first hand and unparalleled knowledge of the Bedouin, their narratives, conflicts and problems.
Rosenwaks is fluent in English and an avid speaker.

His personal experience combined with his graduate studies (MA) in the department of Near East Studies at Tel Aviv University enable him to present a firsthand account integrated with required historical, political and sociological background.

Lectures and Screenings

The series consists out of two full screenings and three lectures; it can be altered to meet specific needs or demands.

1. The Negev Bedouins: An Indigenous Society in Crisis

2. The Film class in Rahat: A personal account of an Israeli male, Jewish, filmmaker working with a group of Bedouin Women.
( Followed by: Screening of "Back and Forth").

3. Slavery in Bedouin society and in the Middle East at large
(Followed by: Screening of "The Film Class").

Further reading:
Read an article in the Jerusalem Report, By Daniella Cheslow: Getting Behind the Camera

Read the article - part 1 , part 2 , part 3

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