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Sense of Need has been touring overseas in England and throughout the Holy Land, both as a cultural and artistic piece, and as a progressive human rights piece.
Currently, the film is being provided grant support through the Al Qattan Foundation, UNESCO Israel for further distribution and processing of the film DVD. The government grant was constrained so that the dvd release took priority over any supplementary promotional material.
Sense of Need has entered the professional movie industry database at IMDB.
Also, the San Francisco Academy of Art prepared a retrospective interview with director Shady Srour.
Sense of Need was a 2006 New York Times Critic's Pick among the multitude of films produced that year.
Archival NEWS:
Check the Screenings page for list of SON screenings in the past.
The Israeli premier was by all accounts, a star studded event with local politicians and members of the Israeli entertainment establishment in attendance as well. More details to be provided. That was just the first of many screenings scheduled in Israel following the debut at the Cinematheque Nazareth.
SON was screened at the Chicago Palestine Film Festival in 2005. The Chicago Palestine Film Festival is an important cultural event for the Palestinian Film people in the United States -- it features important and well established speakers, and also cutting edge films with a political or a cultural twist. Here is the current site for the Chicago Palestine Film Festival. http://www.palestinefilmfest.com/index.php/cpff/festival_2005/films/(offset)/10
The Trenton Film Festival site was at http://www.trentonfilmfestival.org/ was held in New Jersey from April 29, 2005 to May 1, 2005.
SON was screened at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in New York in the Avante Garde category -- an excerpt from the very cool synopsis -- "Meet "Shady of Nazareth", Jesus lookalike and also the hottest new star that's causing a sensation in Israel as the new film face of Palestine. He's both the everyman of the Middle East, and also the "Crocodile Dundee" of the west. He's a philosopher, student of life, a symbol of international X-Generation facing the age-old question of identity, and coming-of-age as an artist as well as a young man. Sense of Need is James Joyce's "Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man" meets "Pulp Fiction". A mind-bending film that crosses continents and blurs the boundaries of Palestine and Israel into a psychological mess. Evoking memories of Pink Floyd's "The Wall", a musician allergic to certain notes and subject to strange dreams battles his deepening psychosis. The film is rich in symbols and secrecy, hallucinatory directions, and an astounding scene that reduces the quintessential Palestinian into a video-game hero. "
The film Sense of Need finished its first phase of post-production in July 2005.
Promotional music has been developed to accompany the marketing of the movie -- in contrast to the classical works on the film, the song combines pop trance influences with human rights lyrics. Also, Arabic style "house music" has been added to the promo track combining Western and Middle Eastern influences. Utilizing a popular peace theme "Shalom Chaverim", the song builds on middle eastern guitar and chanter, a nomadic flute, against a persistent desert style North African drum beat, and contemporary keyboard background.
From the political sector, a review has also been submitted in support of Sense of Need by Michael Haas of the Political Film Society in Los Angeles.
The film has received recognition as "festival best" at the Colorado Golden Film Festival. The film was also well received by the audience. At last minute, Shady Srour was able to attend and accept the award in person on behalf of the SON team. Unlike the traditional Hollywood fare, this emerging festival group specializes in showcasing intellectual, independent, and international works. From contacts made at this fine event, discussions of a future project is a possibility. The staff was also provided with promotional music to accompany the festivities.
In the Middle East, SON has been well received in newspapers and media throughout Israel. Shady has initiated a series of screenings for Arab and Jewish viewers alike, and the audience response has been highly favorable. Also, t he film will be premiering in Israel at the Cinematheque in Nazareth, Shady's hometown. Enthusiastic support from the Arab cultural groups in the area confirm that SON is an important cultural piece not only to Palestianians but to Arabs in the Middle East. Shady's work in the film, was also described in the Jerusalem Post.
SON is beginning to appear in links to native arabic entertainment sites for locals in the Holy Land