Palestinian Film Calendar
Screenings by, about and related to Palestine in the New York City area and limited online engagements.
ONLINE: Your Father Was Born A 100 Years Old, And So Was The Nakba
Umm Amin returns to her hometown, Haifa, via Google's Street View app, a digital window that has now become the only outlet for Palestinian refugees to visit their homeland.
ONLINE: Sokrania 59
In Germany, a family of Syrian refugees of Palestinian origin is suddenly forces to cohabitate with new residents: Maria and her daughter Sofia who are fleeing the war in Ukraine.
ONLINE: Aida Returns
This is a sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of multiple journeys: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with Alzheimer’s disease finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa of her youth; the journey of losing a parent; and the ultimate return journey to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest.
ONLINE: Up to the South
A documentary examining the conditions, politics and economics of South Lebanon in the early 90’s, with a focus on social, intellectual, and popular resistance to the Israeli occupation, as well as conceptions of "the land" and culture, and the imperiled identities of the Lebanese people.
No Other Land
A made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance that develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
Ghost Hunting
GHOST HUNTING assembles a group of ex-prisoners to re-enact their experiences in Al-Moskobiya, Israel’s primary interrogation center, where the filmmaker was jailed at 18.
Away From Home + Heidia Mourad
The work of two filmmakers who attended the same school 20 years apart and their films about Palestine.
...From the Olive Tree + Palestinian Visions
The program showcases two artists who utilize very different genres to express their ideas and reflections about how to memorialize Palestine on canvas.
From Palestine + Palestine - A People's Record
Two films made as part of agreement between DEFA Studio for Documentary Films and the PLO Department of Culture and Information.
The Children of Palestine + Freedom - What Do I Mean?
Two films by West German delegations who came to Lebanon as part of a political exchange on the invitation of the DFLP – focuses on forms of self-organization and discussions around the revolutionary “new Palestinian”.
Land Day + Aida
Films from a rare case when the PLO was allowed to send foreign film crews into Israel and the Occupied Territories with instructions about whom and what to document.
Return to Haifa
A Palestinian couple travels back to Haifa after the 1967 war to find the child they were forced to leave behind during the 1948 war. They find him as an adult, adopted by an Israeli couple, and now a soldier. Kassem Hawal's adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani's novella Return to Haifa is a rare cinematic gem.
A Fidai Film
A FIDAI FILM aims to create a counter-narrative to the loss of the Palestinian Research Center archive, presenting a form of cinematic sabotage that seeks to reclaim and restore the looted memories of Palestinian history
Rashidiya + Children of Palestine
The West Germans Manfred Vosz and Monica Maurer produced their films with PLO funds and were both loosely connected to the PCI.
...From the Olive Tree + Palestinian Visions
The program showcases two artists who utilize very different genres to express their ideas and reflections about how to memorialize Palestine on canvas.
From Palestine + Palestine - A People's Record
Two films made as part of agreement between DEFA Studio for Documentary Films and the PLO Department of Culture and Information.
Land Day + Aida
Films from a rare case when the PLO was allowed to send foreign film crews into Israel and the Occupied Territories with instructions about whom and what to document.
The Children of Palestine + Freedom - What Do I Mean?
Two films by West German delegations who came to Lebanon as part of a political exchange on the invitation of the DFLP – focuses on forms of self-organization and discussions around the revolutionary “new Palestinian”.
Additional Resources for Discovering & Watching Palestinian Films
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PFI is a Palestinian voluntary and independent non-profit organization established in 2019, The PFI was born from a shared desire among active film professionals who identify as Palestinians, to create an inclusive body with the mission to develop, promote and empower the community and industry of film in Palestine and for Palestinians worldwide and preserve its cinema.
https://www.palestinefilminstitute.org/en/ -
Palestine Film Index is a growing list of films from and about Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for liberation, made by Palestinians and those in solidarity with them.
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Discover feature films, documentaries and shorts on Palestinian life and history on Letterboxd, courtesy of the Arab Film and Media Institute.
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A free film archive of solidarity and struggle.
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Films for Palestine is an ever-expanding collection of Palestinian and Palestinian-adjacent films The importance of situating oneself in a historical context in order to understand the unfolding 2023 genocide in Palestine cannot be overstated. These are crucial films—narrative, documentary, experimental. May we view them with our hearts and minds wide open, and for the knowledge we gain to be the foundation of our fight for a Free Palestine.
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The Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) seeks to continually change the narrative, share our stories, and foster understanding of our common humanity through art and storytelling. In this dire time, they created Palestinian Voices, an ongoing program of films that showcase the history, culture and people of Palestine.
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An international institution for serving the Palestinian films and films about Palestine.
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A film production and distribution company which aims to entertain audiences and enrich the cultural landscape by promoting stories that reflect the perspectives and experiences of Palestinians as well as other marginalized groups around the world.
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A free platform streaming the best independent films from the Arab region.