100, Balfour Road
This twelve-minute film from director Anas Alkarmi, Imagine Films and the Palestine Return Centre was premièred during PalExpo London at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on July 8th and released online on October 30th to coincide with the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
It is a hard-hitting and chilling piece depicting the eviction of a British family from their home to make room for a homeless family from abroad. The comparison is clear: a Palestinian family being displaced by a Jewish one as a result of the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
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I have recently returned from Athelhampton House in Dorset where, for Imagine Films (and in moustache and whiskers – “spiritgumtastic”, as Agent L put it) I impersonated Sir Arthur Balfour. He was the one who in 1917 was instrumental in popping the Jewish People into their new homeland in Palestine. And how well that has gone.
Not only was I required to get the wording of the Balfour Declaration right, but was also expected to walk with a limp and a cane whilst simultaneously smoking a pipe stuffed with what I suspect was strong cigarette tobacco. Needless to say, the resultant nausea was such that I could do none of the above with much proficiency. Oh, and the clouds of pollution I produced repeatedly set off the fire alarms which in turn necessitated the application of a pink condom-type cover to fool the sensor.
Spot the uncanny resemblance:
The Mute Series: Dress Code (18)
(Buttock shot)
View Comedy Short: Dress Code
Casting Directors: Kate and Lou Casting
In a stiff north-easterly, and in the company of my ‘wife’ for the morning (she who wishes to remain anonymous for personal reasons), I parade along the beach at Broadstairs. The director is Andrew Lambert, whose Mute Series is winning awards at film festivals all over the world. If you’re a consenting adult, have a look at Dress Code and the rest of Andrew’s work but don’t be drinking a hot beverage at the time. You’re liable to snort it down your nose.
More than that I cannot say, but have a look at this two-minute miniature now released. If I revealed the punchline, I’d have to kill myself.
