The Birzeit University Media Development Center celebrated on February 26, 2015 the graduation of more than 60 students who participated in the media courses organized by the center as part of the 2014 media courses project.

Center director Aref Hijjawi said that this project, in effect for the second year in a row, aims at targeting second year media students and preparing them to join the labor market.

Vice President for Community Affairs Samia Halileh said she valued the cooperation between the Media Department and the Media Development Center, which produces five training sessions annually for the benefit of students.

Media Department chair Bassam Owaidah said that the courses help students join the labor market immediately, enhance their skills and get them acquainted with the media world.

The graduation ceremony included a photo exhibit produced by students in the photography course, and an open discussion between the center and the students, followed by the awarding of certificates.

The Birzeit University Media Development Center has published a book on documentary films that serves as manual for teaching their production at Palestinian universities and colleges. The book was prepared by Palestinian director George Khleifi, under the supervision of center’s director Nibal Thawabteh and the center’s monitoring and evaluation officer Emad Al-Asfar.

Author Khleifi defines documentaries and then provides a historical review of their production since the beginning of the last century, particularly of Palestinian documentary cinema.

Khleifi addressed then includes a proposed course plan for teaching documentary filmmaking in universities and colleges, as a guide for media teachers and students and those trainees who wish to join the field.

Thawabteh said that the book is an attempt to fill the vacuum caused by the lack of sources and guides in documentary film literature, recognizing that the books available in the university’s libraries are dated and do not keep pace with the growing developments in the media industry.

Thawabteh noted that the center intends to issue a collection of guides for various media courses, as part of the Media Development Initiative that is being implemented in partnership with other Palestinian universities and a national team of 50 government and private institutions, led by the center.

The book is 85 pages and was printed with the support of the German Heinrich Boell Foundation.

Female journalists from Gaza discussed the challenges and barriers in the media sector during a meeting organized by the Gender Unit at Birzeit University’s Media Development Center, in cooperation with the Media Club, a subsidiary of the Falastiniyat Foundation in Gaza City.

The female journalists requested that the center and club exert greater efforts to help them overcome gender obstacles.

Gender Unit officer Nahid Abu Taima spoke about the unit's activities and action plans for 2015, noting that several activities do target female journalists.

Abu Taima added that the center and club intends to support female journalists wishing to run for the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the upcoming elections, which will be held in May.

Media club coordinator Mona Khader emphasized the importance of enhancing female journalists’ experiences and stressed the club’s eagerness to support them, particularly regarding their membership rights in the syndicate, or union.

During the meeting, the center also presented its training plan for 2015, as well as the work plan of the gender unit. In response to the female journalists’ needs, the club will continue conducting awareness and brainstorming sessions alongside training courses, Khader noted.

The Birzeit University Media Development Center screened five documentary films at the conclusion of intensive training in Gaza on documentary film production by Swedish director PeA Holmquist.

A number of Palestinian directors commented on the films’ implications and forms. The films addressed different aspects of the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip and its impact on Palestinian life.

The training session covered 90 training hours, commencing on December 1, 2014, and 25 female and male trainees participated.

The trainees were exposed to a variety of experiences inside the center’s headquarters, where Holmquist screened a number of films that won international awards and others produced by the center during previous exercises in the West Bank and Gaza.

The center has held this training course for three years running with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency. It targets female and male directors, aiming to develop their skills and capacities in the Palestinian documentary film industry.