Slingshot Hip Hop
Jackie Salloum:
Slingshot Hip Hop (USA, 2008)
83 min. - Arabic, English, Hebrew - English subtitles
Slingshot Hip Hop shows how music can help people to survive when circumstances have made leading a normal life impossible. The documentary ties together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. The film that charmed its audience at Sundance introduces the first Arab MCs who create their music outside the surrounding society, without resources. Slingshot HipHop is a film about young people crossing the borders that separate them.
Jackie Salloum manages to show hip hop at its roughest and most vigorous state. The documentary portrays the Arabian underground culture in which music carries a true message and it has received commendation at many international festivals. This harshly beautiful and thought-provoking documentary unravels the media-based stereotypes about Arabs and about the conflict in Middle East in general.
—
JACKIE REEM SALLOUM
Jackie Reem Salloum is a New York based artist and filmmaker. Drawing on her Palestinian and Syrian roots, her pop-infused work focuses on challenging the stereotypes of Arabs in the media. After receiving her MFA from New York University, Salloum began directing her first feature length documentary Slingshot Hip Hop. Five years in the making it made it’s premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival-Documentary Competition. Salloum’s work is also the basis of a youth education program on Palestine, and she frequently speaks at universities and conferences internationally.
