Jump to content

Cinema of Palestine

Coordinates:32°03′07″N34°45′34″E/ 32.0519°N 34.7594°E/32.0519; 34.7594
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the term of propaganda, seePallywood.
Cinema of Palestine
No.ofscreens2 (2007)[1]
• Per capita0.1 per 100,000 (2007)[1]
Number of admissions (2007)[2]
Total64,026
Part of a series on
Palestinians
Demographics
Politics
Previous
(political parties)
Current
Religion / religious sites
Culture
List of Palestinians

Cinema of Palestinerefers to films made inPalestineand/or byPalestinianfilmmakers. Palestinian films are not exclusively produced inArabicand some are produced inEnglishandFrench.[3][4]

History

[edit]

The first period: The beginning, 1935–1948

[edit]
Villagers ofHalhulwaiting 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 toPalestine,made by Ibrahim Hassan Sirhan (or Serhan), based inJaffa.[5][6]Sirhan followed the King and around Palestine, "fromLodtoJaffaand from Jaffa toTel Aviv".The result was asilent moviethat 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

[edit]
In the 1960’s, 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

[edit]

After 1967, Palestinian cinema found itself under the auspices of thePLO,funded byFatahand other Palestinian organisations likePFLPandDFLP.More than 60 films were made in this period, mostly documentaries. The first film festival dedicated to Palestinian films was held inBaghdadin 1973, and Baghdad also hosted the next two Palestinian film festivals, in 1976 and 1980.[13]Mustafa Abu Aliwas one of the early Palestinian film directors, and he helped found the Palestinian Cinema Association inBeirutin 1973. Only one dramatic movie was made during the period, namelyReturn to Haifain 1982, an adaptation of a short novel byGhassan Kanafani.[14]

The film archives disappearance, 1982

[edit]

Different organisations set up archives for Palestinian films. The largest such archive was run by PLO'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 ForcesArchive inTel HaShomerby 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 the IDF Archive.[17]

The fourth period: The return home, from 1980 to the present

[edit]

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 2000’s, Palestinian cinema is re focused on collective resistance from Israeli forces.

The 1996drama/comedyChronicle of a Disappearance,from Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, received international critical acclaim,[18]and it became the first Palestinian movie to receive national release in the United States.[19]A break-out film for its genre, it won a New Director's Prize at theSeattle International Film Festivaland aLuigi De LaurentiisAward at theVenice Film Festival.[20]Notable film directors of this period include[21]Michel Khleifi,Rashid Masharawi,Ali NassarandElia Suleiman.

An international effort was launched in 2008 to reopenCinema Jenin,a cinema located in theJeninRefugee Camp.

In 2008, three Palestinian feature films and an estimated eight shorts were completed, more than ever before.[22]

In 2010,Hamas,the governing authority in theGaza Strip,announced the completion of a new film. TitledThe Great Liberation,the film depicts the 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]

Name

[edit]

In contrast to the way some otherlocations with associations to film industryare named in casual parlance, the termPallywoodhas only derogatory acceptions.

Notable directors

[edit]
Emad Burnatis aPalestinianfarmer and filmmaker.

Notable films

[edit]
Main article:List of Palestinian films

Notable film festivals

[edit]
TheDC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival(DCPFAF) logo

A

[edit]

B

[edit]

C

[edit]

D

[edit]

H

[edit]

K

[edit]

L

[edit]

M

[edit]

R

[edit]

S

[edit]
  • Muestra de Cine Palestino de Santiago (Santiago Palestine Film Festival)
  • Muestra de Cine Palestino de Sevilla (Sevilla Palestine Film Festival)
  • Singapore Palestine Film Festival

T

[edit]

See also

[edit]
See also the categoriesCinema of Palestine,Palestinian actors,Palestinian film directors,andPalestinian films

References

[edit]
  1. ^ab"Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity".UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived fromthe originalon 24 December 2018.Retrieved5 November2013.
  2. ^"Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)".UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived fromthe originalon 25 December 2018.Retrieved5 November2013.
  3. ^"Palestine Film Foundation".palestinefilm.org.Archived fromthe originalon June 12, 2008.
  4. ^Brooks, Xan (12 April 2006)."Xan Brooks on Palestinian directors".the Guardian.Retrieved9 July2018.
  5. ^abGertz and Khleifi, p. 13
  6. ^Dabashi (2006), p. 9
  7. ^Khaled Elayya:A Brief History of Palestinian CinemaArchived2014-02-21 at theWayback Machine,This week in Palestine
  8. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 13-14
  9. ^abcdSheetrit, Ariel M. (2020-09-01)."Nadia Yaqub.Palestinian Cinema in the Days of Revolution.Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2018. 265 pp ".Critical Inquiry.47(1): 184–185.doi:10.1086/710913.ISSN0093-1896.
  10. ^List of Irgun attacks
  11. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 19
  12. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 20
  13. ^Joseph Massad:The weapon of Culture: Cinema in the Palestinian liberation struggle. Ch. 2 in Dabashi (2006), p. 33, 36
  14. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 20-30
  15. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 28-30
  16. ^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.
  17. ^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.
  18. ^Chronicle of a Disappearance.All Movie Guide.Accessed June 7, 2009.
  19. ^Chronicle of a Disappearance.Artforum.Summer, 1997.
  20. ^Awards for Chronicle of a Disappearance.ImdbAccessed June 7, 2009.
  21. ^Gertz and Khleifi, p. 30-34
  22. ^"Palestinian filmmakers beat the odds to hit silver screen".Edition.cnn.Retrieved9 July2018.
  23. ^"Gaza-made film shows Israel's destruction by Palestinians".The Jerusalem Post | JPost.2010-09-14.Retrieved2023-11-28.
  24. ^"Gaza filmmakers decry Hamas censorship".Ynetnews.19 August 2011.Retrieved9 July2018.
  25. ^"Watch Salt of This Sea | Netflix".netflix.Retrieved2024-03-27.
  26. ^"200 Meters".Doha Film Institute.Retrieved2024-08-18.
  27. ^Wiseman, Andreas (July 15, 2024)."'Kneecap' Wins Big At Galway Film Fleadh, Full List Of Winners ".Deadline.Retrieved3 August2024.
  28. ^Johnson, G. Allen (April 30, 2024)."Palestinian film 'The Teacher' captures SFFilm's top audience award".San Francisco Chronicle.Retrieved7 July2024.
  29. ^"Past Festivals Audience Award Winners".Filmfest DC.Retrieved7 July2024.
  30. ^"Festival Winners @ Brooklyn Film Festival".Brooklyn FIlm Festival.Retrieved7 July2024.
  31. ^"The winners of the new directors award and audience award 2024".Kosmorama.Retrieved7 July2024.
  32. ^Economou, Vassilis (23 April 2024)."78 Days and Embryo Larva Butterfly win big at the 22nd Cyprus Film Days".Cineuropa.Retrieved7 July2024.
  33. ^"Berlinale Documentary Award and Jury".berlinale.de.Retrieved2024-03-16.
  34. ^Goodfellow, Melanie (2024-01-17)."Berlinale Unveils Full Panorama, Forum & Generation Line-Ups With New Films By Nathan Silver, Levan Akin, André Téchiné & Bruce LaBruce".Deadline.Retrieved2024-03-16.
  35. ^"Poppies of Palestine Film Festival - Kuwait".248am.Retrieved21 May2021.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]

32°03′07″N34°45′34″E/ 32.0519°N 34.7594°E/32.0519; 34.7594

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cinema_of_Palestine&oldid=1241337314"