For Palestinian filmmakers like myself, cinema has become a way of re-creating Palestine and making sense of our uprooted lives and disrupted narratives. I believe that all Palestinians have an "imaginary" Palestine in their heads that they construct like a film and watch over and over. It is what safeguards their identity and gives them the strength and hope to withstand injustice and despair. 

The second annual Al-Kasaba International Film Festival wraps up this weekend, having presented to Palestinian audiences two full weeks of Palestinian and international films at the historic Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque in Ramallah. After the success of last year's festival, the first major international film festival in the occupied Palestinian territories, this year's event showcased over 30 features, documentaries, and short films from Palestine, the Arab world, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. 

In February 2003, the FBI raided the home of University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. Arrested in front of his wife and children, Al-Arian was charged with 17 counts related to terrorism. In an unusual move, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft called a press conference to announce Al-Arian's arrest, stating Al-Arian was the leader of the North American branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Renowned actor and Palestinian citizen of Israel Mohammad Bakri's film "Since You Left" is neither a eulogy to his friend and mentor, the writer and politician Emile Habibi, nor is it an account of the late author's life and work. It is instead a poignant and deeply personal letter to the departed. Bakri's autobiographical narrative in "Since You Left" revolves around a visit to the gravesite of Emile Habibi. 

Abdallah and Sufyan Omeish, the brothers who directed "Occupation 101", never attended film school. Abdallah earned his degree in international affairs and Sufyan studied management information systems. However, after traveling to Palestine in December 2000 and observing the Israeli occupation, they resolved to chronicle it. The result is an exceptionally moving documentary. 

In the midst of the relentless daily hardship that they endure, a Palestinian sports commentator says of his own people that they will drop everything they are doing to watch their beloved national soccer team play. He describes the Palestinian national team's bid to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 as "one of our most beautiful dreams." 

A young woman stands before a camera refusing to take the chair the director has set up. He asks why? "I have come to sing," she says. Irritated, the director orders her, "You must act, didn't they tell you we are looking for actors here?" With calm assertion she insists, "I do not know how to act. I have come to sing. Come on, you film and I will sing..." This scene illustrates a main theme running through Rashid Masharawi's latest feature film Waiting. Since the Oslo peace process began, Palestinians have been cast in the role of an emerging nation on its way to statehood.