Over the last two decades, Palestinian film directors have released a variety of movies that collectively form a cinematic archive of Palestinians’ struggle for survival and their native land. ‘The New Arab’ has curated a list of the ten Palestinian movies you should watch.
Paradise Now (2005): Directed by Hany Abu-Assad, the film tells the story of what may be the last 48 hours in the lives of two lifelong friends from Nablus who have been recruited as suicide bombers. The film is a realistic depiction of the situation in the Palestinian territories that illuminates why young men would decide to do something so drastic.
The Time that Remains (2009): The film is a portrait of family life in Nazareth at four historical moments: 1948, 1970, 1980, and the 2008-2009 war on Gaza.
Directed by Elia Suleiman, the semi-autobiographical film draws inspiration from Elia Suleiman’s late father's private diary, which he kept as a resistance fighter, and from his mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country.
Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009): A new bride, Kamar (Yasmine Elmasri), has to cope with the arrest and imprisonment of her husband, Zaid (Ashraf Farah) after Israeli soldiers confiscated his olive farm. She decides to resume her passion for the dabke dance. Director Najwa Najjar wrote a romance movie centred around Kamar, who embodies the feminine.
The Idol (2015): Directed by Hany Abu-Assad, the feature film is based on the true story of Mohammed Assaf (Tawfeek Barhom), a wedding singer from the Gaza Strip who won the second season of the song contest Arab Idol in 2013.
Wajib (2017): In the movie Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir tells the story of Abu Shadi, portrayed by Mohammad Bakri, is a divorced Christian father from Nazareth. The director skillfully captures daily life in Nazareth, the largest Palestinian Arab city inside Israel.
It Must Be Heaven (2019): A Palestinian man embarks on a quest for a new homeland, leaving Nazareth behind and journeying first to Paris, then New York.
In these new cities, he encounters a surreal world that serves as a microcosm of Palestine. Directed by Elia Suleiman, this sketch-like film portrays his daily life with a singular and satirical approach.
The Present (2020): This short film directed by Farah Nabulsi captures the daily struggles and micro-injustices inflicted upon Palestinian people. A father and a daughter living in a Palestinian enclave in the West Bank have to cross Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem to bring home a new fridge as a wedding anniversary gift.
200 Meters (2020): Mustafa lives exactly 200 meters from his wife and children’s home, separated only by the Israeli separation wall.
While his wife, Salwa, has agreed to work on the other side of the border, Mustafa remains in the West Bank city of Tulkarem and refuses to accept that he needs an Israeli visa to cross the land.
The movie directed by Ameen Nayfeh revolves around Mustafa’s harrowing journey to reach his son, who is hospitalised after an accident.
Gaza Mon Amour (2020): Directed by Mohammed Abou Nasser, the narrative about Issa Nasser’s story in Gaza Mon Amour depicts a 60-year-old fisherman living in Gaza. Issa, portrayed by Salim Dau, harbours a secret love for the dressmaker, a widow named Siham, played by Hiam Abbas.
One day, he discovers a statue of an ancient Greek divinity in his fishing net and opts to conceal it in his house.
Problems arise for Issa when the Hamas authorities uncover the existence of this mysterious treasure. This delicate narrative about love portrays a population divided between various factions.
Farha (2021): In 1948, the Nakba (translating to catastrophe in English) shatters a Palestinian girl’s dream. The Jordanian filmmaker with Palestinian roots, Darin Sallam, tells the true story of a massacre committed by Zionist militiamen in a Palestinian village through the eyes of a young girl. She changes only the names. The historical, visual representation of the Palestinian people in the movie is itself an act of resistance.
Source: Daily Sun
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
