Palestinian cinema Archives - The Jerusalem Fund

2019 Summer Film Series: Three Restored Films by the Palestine Film Unit (1969)

August 9, 2021May 2, 2019 by Samirah Alkassim

The following films were recently restored by researcher and filmmaker of the Palestine Film Unit, Khadijeh Habashneh Abu Ali, to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the PFU and the 10 year anniversary of the death of filmmaker and PFU founder, Mustafa Abu Ali: Scenes from Occupation in Gaza, by Mustafa Abu Ali (12 min.), They Do Not Exist, by Mustafa Abu Ali (23 min.), The Children of…., by Khadijeh Habashneh Abu Ali (22 min.)

2019 Summer Film Series: “Wajib” by Annemarie Jacir

August 9, 2021May 2, 2019 by Samirah Alkassim

A father and his estranged son must come together to hand deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations to each guest.

2019 Summer Film Series: “Ambulance” by Mohamed Jabaly

August 9, 2021May 2, 2019 by Samirah Alkassim

Mohamed Jabaly spent the summer of 2014 working with an ambulance crew before and during “Operation Protective Edge”. While numerous articles and media stories are published on the recurring violence in Gaza, they are most often from a privileged outsider perspective. Jabaly’s film is unique in presenting events from a point of view that hails from the ground.

“Palestinian Cinema in the Days of Revolution”

April 3, 2019February 28, 2019 by Samirah Alkassim

Bringing to light the origins of an important national cinema, this book examines Palestinian filmmaking during the long 1970s, and how it sustained a revolution that continues to inspire in a new century.

Looted from Beirut 35 years ago, now on display in Tel Aviv

December 18, 2017 by Samirah Alkassim

‘Looted and Hidden’ digs through the archive of films taken by the Israeli army in 1982, and shines light on more property stolen by Israel: the history of Palestinian cinema.

Arab Cinema Now: Time Travel through Short Films

August 9, 2021April 17, 2017 by Samirah Alkassim

These recent short films culled from the International Film Festival Rotterdam move between imagined worlds from the past, present, and future. Subjects range from Bangladeshi freedom fighters in 1980s Lebanon to the current war in Syria to an imaginary sci-fi Palestine.

Summer Film Series: “Off Frame, AKA Revolution Until Victory” by Mohanad Yaqubi

August 9, 2021April 5, 2017 by Samirah Alkassim

Off Frame, AKA Revolution Until Victory is Mohanad Yaqubi’s study of the films produced by the Palestine Film Unit of the PLO in the 1960s and 1970s. These films reflect a primary concern with self-representation for the Palestinian people and their struggles for self-determination. Unearthing films stored in archives across the world after an unprecedented search and access, the film beings with popular representations of modern Palestine and traces the works of militant filmmakers in reclaiming image and narrative through revolutionary and militant cinema.

What is the Value of Palestinian Cinema?

July 27, 2021June 6, 2016 by Samirah Alkassim

By Samirah Alkassim

When we consider what is most commonly encountered as Palestinian cinema, it is useful to borrow an analogy from linguistics. Double marking is when grammatical marks are placed at the heads of words, modifiers, and phrases as well as on their endings to indicate things like gender, case, and other distinctions. It occurs in both Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, as well as in other languages. Likewise, Palestinian cinema is doubly marked.

Summer Film Series: “Cinema Palestine” by Tim Schwab

August 9, 2021April 26, 2016 by Samirah Alkassim

This feature-length documentary explores the concept of Palestinian cinema produced by an effectively stateless people. Cinema Palestine combines in-depth interviews with directors including Hany Abu-Assad, Azza el-Hassan, Sobhi Zobaidi, Mai Masri, Tawfik Abu Wael, Annemarie Jacir, and many more, along with excerpts from their films.