St. Eustace Episcopal Church Rev. Ken Hitch, right, and Melissa Kilts write letters to elected officials at PS: Letters for Ceasefire in Saranac Lake in January. (Provided photo — Tyler Barton)

LAKE PLACID — St. Eustace Episcopal Church will host a film series to benefit families in Palestine throughout the months of April and May.

The film series, “Plants, People and Apartheid: A Film Series for Palestine,” was organized by members of PS: Letters for a Ceasefire, a group that has gathered in Saranac Lake every Monday evening to write letters to elected officials advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We’ve been doing (PS) for 12 weeks now, and during those meetings, we get people from all over the North Country who join us to write letters,” said Tyler Barton, PS and film series co-organizer. “Conversations crop up while we’re writing.”

PS members, who have written about 50 pieces of mail every week, were concerned at the lack of local attention paid toward the crisis in Gaza. They concluded that North Country residents may not have a clear idea of what life in Palestine is like and came up with the film series as a way to help spread awareness.

The Rev. Ken Hitch, who has been participating in PS since January, said he was happy to volunteer the church as a venue for the film series.

A group of North Country residents write letters to elected officials at PS: Letters for Ceasefire in Saranac Lake in January. (Provided photo — Tyler Barton)

“I personally have been involved in the letter writing and have gotten to know (film series co-organizers Barton and Emily-Bell Dinan) that way, so when they needed a location, a venue, to be able to show these films and help tell the story and provide greater context beyond the headlines of … the ongoing fight of the people of Palestine over the years.”

Barton said that the films were chosen with the local community in mind.

“We ended up choosing the films because we were looking for that Adirondack tie-in — something locals could see and connect with personally,” Barton said.

Three films will be shown every other Tuesday night starting at 6:30 p.m. over the next couple of months. “My Tree,” a documentary about a filmmaker’s journey to locate a tree planted in his name in Israel years ago, will be shown on April 9. “Flying Paper,” a film about a Palestinian child’s quest to break the Guinness World Record for most kites ever flown, will be shown on April 23. “Foragers,” a film about elderly Palestinians fighting for their right to forage on their own land, will be shown on May 7.

“None of these films are what I could call brutal,” Barton said. “There are brutal stories to tell about what life is like in Palestine, but we didn’t want to put anybody off who might be willing to put their foot in the water learning about Palestine by showing films that are shocking, violent or painting a picture of brutality.”

The fourth and final meeting on May 21 will be a “teach-in” featuring a discussion about Palestine led by High Peaks Democratic Socialists of America member William Gifis at the Adirondack Center for Writing in Saranac Lake. The teach-in is being sponsored by the High Peaks DSA.

Hitch said education about Palestine is important to the ceasefire movement.

“(In) the west, there seems to be less knowledge around the history (of Palestine) for many folks. It seems as if everything started on Oct. 7 of last year and there’s just a lot more to it than that,” he said. “So we’re happy to host and provide a safe space for people to learn and to talk and discuss in an open-minded and open-hearted way, to kind of combat some of that misinformation or lack of information.”

Barton the goals of the film series are to show solidarity with Palestine, educate locals about life in Palestine and raise money for families attempting to evacuate Gaza. Though the film series is free, donations will be collected to support three families attempting to evacuate from and survive life in Gaza. The money will go toward helping the families access visas, travel fare and necessary supplies.

The Ramlawi family, friends of local carpenter Eli Bickford, are attempting to escape Gaza after a family member was killed in an Israeli airstrike and another was kidnapped for two weeks. Bickford organized a GoFundMe campaign for the family and is aiming to raise $50,000 to help the family of four flee to Egypt and live as refugees. Their GoFundMe can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ramlawi.

The Humaid family, consisting of 16 members, is also attempting to evacuate from Gaza. Ranging in age from 1 to 65 years old, the family’s car was destroyed and their house severely damaged by Israeli attacks.

“My family and I left our home under continuous shelling, walking without carryng our personal belongings, winter clothes, or even our money, heading from Gaza to Zuwayda,” wrote Labeeb Humaid on his family’s GoFundMe campaign. “The pain we have experienced over the years, I do not seek or accept that our children suffer from it in the future.”

The Humaid family is seeking to raise $100,000 to evacuate to Egypt. Their GoFundMe can be viewed at tinyurl.com/humaidfam.

The third fundraiser supports two families — six children, their parents and grandparents — including the Badah family. They are attempting to evacuate from Gaza and take refuge in Canada. Friends of the families are raising $47,600 to aid the families. Their GoFundMe can be viewed at tinyurl.com/aymanfam.

To RSVP for the film series, visit https://tinyurl.com/ee3ury3u.

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CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect incorrect information about the sponsorship of the “Plants, People and Apartheid: A Film Series for Palestine” film series. The High Peaks Democratic Socialists of America is not sponsoring the series but will be sponsoring the “teach-in” on May 21 at the Adirondack Center for Writing. The News regrets the error.