Palestine through Film

Kamal Aljafari, A FIDAI FILM (2024, 78 min., Arabic, Hebrew, and English with English subtitles)

In the summer of 1982, the Israeli army invaded Beirut. There, they raided the Palestinian Research Center and looted its entire archive, which included a vast collection of photographs, fiction films, documentaries, and newsreels from and about Palestine. Taking this history as its departure point, A FIDAI FILM aims to create a counter-narrative to this loss. Filmmaker Kamal Aljafari attempts to reclaim these looted memories of Palestinian history by performing cinematic sabotage: at times he scratches over title cards, obscures images with color masks, cuts the sound from films, and reapplies dialogue from one film to another. “Avoiding the idea of a romantic reunion with these archival materials, the artist re-presents them anew, as indelibly marked by their violent history and present” (May Makki, Screen Slate—full review here).

Content warning: This film includes discussions and depictions of military and state violence.

Palestine through Film chronicles key moments in Palestinian history—from the Nakba of 1948 to the present occupation. These weekly screenings of documentaries, historical dramas, and shorts open a window onto the mosaic of life in Palestine.