Cinema of Palestine refers to films made inPalestine and/or byPalestinian filmmakers. Palestinian films are not exclusively produced inArabic and some are produced inEnglish andFrench.[3][4]
History
The first period: The beginning, 1935–1948
Villagers ofHalhul waiting for an open-air film show, around 1940
The first Palestinian film to be made is generally believed to be a documentary on KingIbn Saud of Saudi Arabia's visit in 1935 toMandatory Palestine, made by Ibrahim Hassan Sirhan (or Serhan), based inJaffa.[5][6] Sirhan followed the King and around Mandatory Palestine, "fromLod toJaffa and from Jaffa toTel Aviv". The result was asilent movie that was presented at theNabi Rubin festivals. Following this documentary, Sirhan joined Jamal al-Asphar to produce a 45-minute film calledThe Realized Dreams, aiming to "promote the orphans' cause". Sirhan and al-Asphar also produced a documentary aboutAhmad Hilmi Pasha, a member of theHigher Arab Commission.[5][7] In 1945 Sirhan established the Arab Film Company with Ahmad Hilmi al-Kilani. The company launched the feature filmHoliday Eve, which was followed by preparations for the next filmA Storm at Home. The films themselves were lost in 1948, when Sirhan had to flee Jaffa after the town was bombarded.[8]
The second period: The epoch of silence, 1948–1967
In the 1960s, there was a small group of people that started filming the Palestinian Revolution.[9] The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) helped tremendously with allowing people such as Arab filmmakers start up their films. In the late 60s, these films that were being made, around 100 or more, focused mostly on themes such as collective resistance, exile, and refugees with Palestinians being displaced by Israel at this time. These films were being screened in refugee camps, military bases, villages and towns, and sometimes even gained international recognition.[9] The distribution of these films was not controlled by the filmmakers but regardless, cinema allowed them to tell their own stories. The Alhambra Cinema inJaffa, 1937, bombed December 1947[10]
The1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight (known in Arabic as theNakba) had a devastating effect on Palestinian society, including its nascent film industry. Cinematic endeavours, requiring infrastructure, professional crews, and finance, nearly ceased for two decades.[11] Individual Palestinian participated in the film-production of neighbouring countries. It is reported that Sirhan was involved with the production of the first Jordanian feature film,The Struggle in Jarash (1957), and another Palestinian, Abdallah Ka'wash, directed the second Jordanian feature film,My Homeland, My Love, in 1964.[12]
The third period: Cinema in exile, 1968–1982
After 1967, Palestinian cinema found itself under the auspices of thePLO, funded byFatah and other Palestinian organisations likePFLP andDFLP. More than 60 films were made in this period, mostly documentaries. The first film festival dedicated to Palestinian films was held inBaghdad in 1973, and Baghdad also hosted the next two Palestinian film festivals, in 1976 and 1980.[13]Mustafa Abu Ali was one of the early Palestinian film directors, and he helped found the Palestinian Cinema Association inBeirut in 1973. Only one dramatic movie was made during the period, namelyReturn to Haifa in 1982, an adaptation of a short novel byGhassan Kanafani.[14]
The film archives disappearance, 1982
Different organisations set uparchives for Palestinian films. The largest such archive was run byPLO's Film Foundation/Palestinian Film Unit. In 1982, when the PLO was forced out ofBeirut, the archive was put into storage (in the Red Crescenty Hospital), from where it "disappeared" under circumstances which are still unclear.[15] Recently, several films from the archive were located in theIsrael Defense Forces Archive inTel HaShomer by scholar and curator Rona Sela.[16] Sela has called for the release of these films, and for the declassification of other Palestinian films that remain closed in theIDF Archive.[17]
The fourth period: The return home, from 1980 to the present
In 1987, there was the first Intifada,[9] and this led to an increase in news coverage in Palestine, showcasing their occupation. This is when filmmakers started getting back up to make more films, in documentarian style, as they were given the understanding of film techniques through these news reporters. This is when a new era of Palestinian cinema emerged. Focusing on Israeli occupation and Palestinian experiences, it differed from their previous focus on exile during the PLO days. There were also “emergency films” and “roadblock films”[9] which called spectators to action on behalf of Palestinians’ struggles and the other genre categorized for its use of checkpoints in its films. Now in the 2000s, Palestinian cinema is re focused on collective resistance from Israeli forces.
An international effort was launched in 2008 to reopenCinema Jenin, a cinema located in theJenin Refugee Camp.
In 2008, three Palestinian feature films and an estimated eight shorts were completed, more than ever before.[22]
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip,Hamas, a terrorist militia controlling most parts of it, announced the completion of a new propaganda film. TitledThe Great Liberation, the film glorifies the sin of destruction of Israel by Palestinians.[23]
Currently in the Gaza Strip, all film projects must be approved by Hamas' Culture Ministry before they can be screened in public. Independent filmmakers have claimed that the Culture Ministry cracks down on content not conforming to Hamas edicts. In a notable 2010 case, Hamas banned the short filmSomething Sweet, directed by Khalil al-Muzzayen, which was submitted at theCannes Film Festival. Hamas banned it from being shown locally due to a four-second scene where a woman is shown with her hair uncovered. In 2011, a film festival hosted by the Gaza Women's Affairs Center included documentaries and fictional pieces on women's issues, but the Culture Ministry censored numerous scenes. One film had to remove a scene where a woman lowered one shoulder of her dress, and another had to remove a scene of a man swearing.[24]
Films from Palestine have been broadcast internationally through services such asNetflix.[25]
Three Promises (2023) (Harrell Award at the Camden International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at DocPoint Helsinki, Finalist for Henry Awards for Best Documentary for Public Interest)
^Sela, Rona (2017-06-01). "Seized in Beirut: The Plundered Archives of the Palestinian Cinema Institution and Cultural Arts Section".Anthropology of the Middle East.12 (1):83–114.doi:10.3167/ame.2017.120107.ISSN1746-0727.S2CID149169819.
^Sela, Rona (3 March 2017). "The Genealogy of Colonial Plunder and Erasure – Israel's Control over Palestinian Archives".Social Semiotics.28 (2):201–229.doi:10.1080/10350330.2017.1291140.S2CID149369385.
Dreams of a Nation, an independent project founded to provide resources and information on Palestinian cinema. Based atColumbia University, United States.
