Living in Conflict

Israelis and Palestinians explore the complex nature of their existence on opposing sides of the conflict. Each individual uses art, science, music or poetry as a way of surviving conflict in a region riddled with tensions. These personal stories give voice to the human dimension that is painfully lacking today in the black-and-white reportage on television news. The film begins in the fall of 1999 and features the Israeli poet Natan Yonatan, Israeli Palestinian writer, Hanna Abu Hanna, Rana Bishara, a young Israeli Palestinian artist,Yair Delal, Iraqi Israeli musician, and Dr. Rose-Bilbool, a scientist and survivor of the Holocaust.

Etienne Kallos, Editor/ Camera /Co-Director, recently edited the "Spaghetti Factory", an independent documentary by Mal Sharpe showing on PBS and 72 stations across the country. He has worked as an editor on more than 30 productions for Seachlight films, New Images Productions and the Bay Area Video Coalition. In addition, he is a certified Avid editor and is skilled in Media 100, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro. He is currently co- director and editor of the documentary "Living in the Conflict: Voices from Israel and Palestine". In addition, he has been working as the editor for a recent feature film for San Francisco filmmaker William Farley. He is a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts. He holds a degree in English Literature and Theater from Rhodes University in South Africa. Etienne is a regular volunteer teacher to inner city youth, spending six months of last year as a film/video teacher at a high school in San Francisco and in South Africa teaching English literature to Zulu youth in the townships. He currently serves as Vice President for Chroma Productions., Mikayla Mickelberg, Producer/Co-director, is currently co-directing and producing "Living in Conflict", a feature-length documentary about the lives of five Israeli and Palestinian individuals. She is also producing and co-directing "Another World is Possible," a documentary about the World Social Forum in Brazil, as well as "Buddhism and Boke," a documentary about Buddhism and wresting in Mongolia. She was the sound person for award winning filmmaker Thomas Luchinger's documentary "Beginning Anew" about Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hahn's journey to China. She is the owner of Chroma Productions, a full service video production company in Northern California, and has completed numerous short productions including promotional, industrial, and experimental films and videos. In addition, she spent several years as a videographer for Urban Arts, a youth arts organization in Oakland, California. She is a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts where she studied Film and Video, and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont and the University of Tel Aviv in English Literature and Political Science.