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If you’re not a fan of hip hop, break dance, rap and so… don’t make a mistake by clickin’ the ‘next’ button, because this documentary that I’m gonna blog about today is more than just a cinematix document on a particular music genre… this is more movie on struggle then movie on boyz wearing basketball sneakers, golden necklaces, baseball shirts and oversized jeans…

Slingshot Hip Hop

Slingshot Hip Hop directed by Jackie Reem Salloum is covering the new and emerging hip hop scene of young Palestinians who are living in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel capturing absurdities of cultural and military boundaries.

Jackie Reem Salloum is a New York based mixed media artist and filmmaker of Palestinian and Syrian roots. Her artworks (video, collages and toys) were so far exhibited and presented world wide: Bronx Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Freud Museum, Havana Biennial, Transmediale, as well as her documentary films are being shown at mayor film festivals around the globe.

Caterrorpillar by Jackie Reem Salloum (c)

She’s intrigued by usual stereotypes of Arabs in the media, which resulted in several short moviez, among them rewarded work ‘Planet of the Arabs’. Five years ago Salloum got her MFA at New York University and decided to take a challenge of feature length documentary, Slingshot Hip Hop (2008).

DAM (c)

The synopsis is based around the following story: ‘Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.’

Arapeyat (c)

‘The film begins with Tamer, Suhell, and Mahmoud of DAM, the first ever Palestinian hip hop group, from their early, awkward recording attempts in an Israeli studio to fiery, sold-out shows in Europe. Through DAM we meet Mahmoud Shalabi, an irreverent rapper from Akka, along with solo R&B artist Abeer and rap group Arapeyat, young women pushing up against cultural boundaries to emerge as talented artists in the Palestinian hip hop scene.’

PR (Palestinian Rapperz) – (c)

‘Meanwhile, Mohammed, Kan’aan and Mezo of PR (Palestinian Rapperz) have begun emulating DAM and other rappers in Israel and the West Bank. Trapped in Gaza, one of the most heavily populated places on Earth, PR long to visit their fellow rappers in the West Bank, while making the best of check points, economic despair and military attacks.’ (ZFF)

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Jackie Reem Salloum’s approach is rather objective and of ‘raw material’ artistic style at the same time. I’ve red some film critics saying that Slingshot Hip Hop suffers from a kind of incomplete narrative. But, I think the problem is that most of critics are ignoring the fact that Salloum is definitely influenced by mixed media art and collages, particularly in her visual procede.

DAM (c)

Therefore, seems a logical thing that she is influenced with techniques implemented from different variety of forms in visual arts. That seems to be the reason why to some people the story looks like it lacks perfectly formed narrative.

Salloum is breaking up the story in order to follow the rhythms of hip hop and rap on one side, and the sound of bombing and guns at the other side, having in mind that hip hop in Gaza, for example, could be compared with racial issues and the origin of hip hop and street art related subcultures in USA.

Bureaucracy+Injustice+Hardship+Poverty=Resistance