'Palestine 36' to open the 23rd Human Rights Film Festival

Palestine, 1936. While the dogs of war strain at the leash in Europe, preparations are made for the Great Arab Revolt, with the aim of achieving an independent state. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, France and the United Kingdom divided up the region, establishing the British Mandate of Palestine. In the mid-1930s, tensions over land, immigration and colonial power intensified. In April 1936, a general strike shook cities and rural regions.

In her new film, Annemarie Jacir addresses the history of her country. In her own words:

“Making this film is the most difficult thing I have done in my life. When the genocide began, everything fell apart. Our people were being annihilated, and we were trying to make a film about a dark moment in our history, without knowing that we were about to live through one of the darkest moments we have ever experienced. We plunged to new depths; it seemed like madness. At times we were completely overwhelmed. I lost count of the number of times production started and was halted. We kept on. The cast and team were united in insisting on doing something, pouring all our pain into an act of love, to tell one another that we would never be erased. The script, the story, the locations… everything changed. One thing became stronger. This film turned into an offering".

SYNOPSIS

1936. While the villages of the British Mandate of Palestine rise up against British colonial rule, Yusuf wanders between his rural home and the vibrant buzz of Jerusalem, yearning for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is implacable. With the growing number of Jewish immigrants fleeing anti-Semitism in Europe, and the Palestine population uniting in the greatest and longest uprising against thirty years of British rule, each faction rushes headlong towards an inevitable clash at a decisive moment for the British Empire and the whole region's future.