Arab Israeli Dialogue / Imagine Peace

Arab Israeli Dialogue (1974) is the passionate final documentary from Lionel Rogosin (On the Bowery, Come Back Africa), in which Palestinian poet Rashed Hussein and Israeli writer Amos Kenan seek dialogue toward a possible solution to the never-ending conflict. Never before have both sides discussed a mutual problem so frankly, and so willingly. Rogosin provides an open forum for two formidable intellects to discuss the fates of their nations, and the ever-receding possibility of peace. Imagine Peace (2022) is Michael A. Rogosin’s moving and thought-provoking film about his father’s Arab Israeli Dialogue. He screened the original film on the wall of the Palestine-Israel Journal offices in East Jerusalem, the only joint Israeli-Palestinian publication, and heard the editors, some of whom knew both Kenan and Hussein, make observations about the 1974 documentary and about where we are today. Arab Israeli Dialogue was restored by Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna from the original 16mm reversal film and magnetic soundtrack, preserved and made available by Anthology Film Archives. This film was restored under a project for the recuperation and promotion of the complete works of Lionel Rogosin, developed by Cineteca di Bologna and Rogosin Heritage.