Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan
The Wanted 18
Palestine, Canada, France, United Arab Emirates
Producers: Saed Andoni, Ina Fichman, Dominique Barneaud, Nathalie Cloutier
Production Company: Intuitive Pictures, National Film Board of Canada, Bellota Films, Dar Films
Project Logline:
The first Intifada, 1987. Palestinian leaders urge communities to develop alternatives to Israeli products. In response, a group of Palestinian activists start a collective dairy farm with 18 head of cattle. Once their “Intifada milk” gains popularity, the Israeli army orders the farm’s closure, declaring the cows a threat to national security. The activists persevere, hiding the cows in caves and continuing to produce Palestinian milk. This is the story of the most powerful army in the Middle East chasing 18 cows.
Amer Shomaly is a Palestinian practitioner using art, Digital media and technology as tools to explore and interact with the sociopolitical scene in Palestine focusing on the creation and the use of the Palestinian revolution iconography. He holds a master’s degree in animation from the Arts University Bournemouth in the United Kingdom and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Birzeit University, Palestine. He was born in Kuwait in 1981, and is currently based in Ramallah, Palestine.