Palestinian short films session

Ever, since I can remember, images of Palestinians always seem to be shrouded with controversy, even the most mundane images. And most especially when they are made by Palestinians themselves. Our lives have been defined by a never-ending cycle of violence caused by military occupation, land theft and apartheid. Yet at this very moment we have plummeted into even darker depths. For the past five months, our pain, our death and destruction has been on display for all the world to see. Horrifying stories… of babies, children, parents being slaughtered live. Every morning we wake up to worse news. I don’t know which is worse, the silence of the international community, the inability of the world to stop this genocide…

This collection of short films are made by Palestinian filmmakers born into a refugee legacy and born under military occupation. Filmmakers who have lived their entire lives knowing their very existence; moments with their families, their mundane daily reality, their desire to go to school to study, their ability to work... is all controlled by an exterior power. These short films are just one of the many ways they continue to tell stories and to make art, and to insist on freedom in a place that has denied it to them.

It feels obvious to state that all of these films were made before October 2023. Anyone who knows anything about Palestine knows we have never lived a day of freedom. Our hearts have been broken into a million pieces. But we will never be erased. We will continue to do what we do, and do it with love. It is a testament of our resistance. This collection of short films is just that.

Annemarie Jacir (San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival Award 2019)

• From Palestine With Love (2022). Annemarie Jacir. Palestine. 4 min

Commissioned by the Locarno Film Festival for its 75th anniversary under the title Postcards from the Future, eleven renowned personalities from international cinema were invited to produce short films to be screened in the Piazza Grande, one of the largest screens in the world, as a postcard from their country.

• Gaza-London (2009). Dima Hamdan. UK. 14 min

Gaza, 2009. Israel has embarked on a massive attack on Gaza. Mahmoud is in London, his mother is trapped in Gaza, and he is desperately awaiting her call. He agrees to take part in a radio programme about the situation in Palestine, but has to turn off his mobile.

• Area C (2018). Salah Abu Nimah. Palestine. 10 min

In the West Bank, at an Area classified C surrounded by Israeli settlements, Hussain the young kid is trying to defend his house from the settlers and keep them away so ha can stay there with his parents.

• Headcount (2020). Akram Al-Waara. Palestine. 14 min

A Palestinian prisoner is thrown into solitary confinement in Israeli prison; his only source of daily human interaction is when the prison guards sound for roll call. Struggling to keep track of the time passing him by, the prisoner begins to unravel. After a period of time, a cockroach enters his cell, becoming his only source of solace.

• Vibrations from Gaza (2023). Rehab Nazzal. Palestine-Canada. 16 min

The film offers a glimpse into the experiences of deaf children in the colonized and confined coastal territory of Gaza, Palestine. Born and raised under Israeli siege and frequent onslaughts, Amani, Musa, Israa, and other deaf children, provide vivid accounts of their encounter of bombardment and the constant presence of drones in their sky.