The UAE’s annual festival of Palestinian stories delivered via independent and alternative cinema is back, and with massively enhanced relevance. The films, mostly in Arabic with English subtitles, are …<\/p>\n
The Teacher<\/strong><\/span> dir Farah Nabulsi (2023)<\/em> A Palestinian school teacher struggles to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students and the chance of a new romantic relationship with a British volunteer worker<\/p>\n 26 Jan<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with director) Here and Elsewhere<\/strong><\/span> dir Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Groupe Dziga Vertov, Anne-Marie Mi\u00e9ville (1976) <\/em>Commissioned to produce a film on the Palestinian Revolution, Godard and Gorin\u2019s plans were upended by the Black September attacks. Godard and Mi\u00e9ville transformed the original footage into a scathing self-critical documentary, paralleling the lives of a French and a Palestinian family<\/p>\n \u200b26 Jan<\/strong> 10pm<\/p>\n R21 AKA Restoring Solidarity<\/strong><\/span> dir Mohanad Yacubi (2022) <\/em>The growing struggle for Palestinian self-determination between 1960 and 1980 was supported by radical left-wing movements worldwide. This is illustrated by a collection of 16mm films by militant filmmakers from various countries, which were dubbed and screened in Japan \u2013 where audiences sympathised but also identified with the Palestinians<\/p>\n 2 Feb<\/strong> 7pm<\/p>\n Aida Returns<\/b><\/span> dir Carol Mansour (2023)<\/em> A poignant, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director\u2019s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer\u2019s disease, but finding solace in her repeated \u201creturning\u201d to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more<\/p>\n 27 Jan<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with director) Lyd<\/strong><\/span> dir Rami Younes, Sarah Ema Friedland\u00a0<\/i>(2023) A sci fi documentary of a city that once connected Palestine to the world \u2014 what it once was, what it is now, and what it could have become.<\/p>\n 27 Jan<\/strong> 9pm Slingshot Hip Hop <\/b><\/span>dir Jacqueline Reem Salloum <\/i>(2008) <\/i>A documents on the emergence and evolution of Palestinian Hip Hop, weaving together the narratives of young artists navigating life in Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestine<\/p>\n 27 Jan<\/strong> 8pm (outdoor screening at The Yard)<\/p>\n We No Longer Prefer Mountains<\/b><\/span> dir Inas Halabi <\/i>(<\/i>2023<\/i>)<\/i> Documentary on the Druze towns of Dalyet el Carmel and Isfiya, drawing the viewer into a world of geographic isolation and a locale shaped by coercion and control. Weaving together intimate engagements with members of the community in shared domestic spaces and outdoor environments, the film explores how the inner politics of the Druze have been reconfigured and reshaped since 1948<\/p>\n 27 Jan<\/strong> 9.15pm (screening plus Q&A with director) Tomorrow’s Freedom: Marwan Barghouti <\/b><\/span>dir Georgia Scott, Sophia Scott <\/i>(<\/i>2022<\/i>) <\/i>For five years, the directors followed the family of imprisoned Palestinian political leader and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Marwan Barghouti; the resulting film shares the struggles of his hunger strikes, brought on by harsh prison conditions and the desire to make a stand. A collage of interviews with the people who know him best, Tomorrow\u2019s Freedom paints a portrait of a man who may one day lead the Palestinian people<\/p>\n 28 Jan<\/strong> 4.15pm (screening plus Q&A with director) Three Promises<\/b><\/span> dir Yousef Srouji <\/i>(<\/i>2023<\/i>) A<\/i> mother films her family’s daily life the second intifada in the West Bank in the early 2000s. Her son revisits this past, delivering a heart-breaking film that conveys the anguish of children and their parents who are forced to choose between safety and emotional upheaval<\/p>\n 29 Jan<\/strong> 9.15pm Bye Bye Tiberias<\/b><\/span> dir Lina Soualem <\/i>(<\/i>2023<\/i>)<\/i> 30 years ago, Hiam Abbass left her native village in Galilee to follow her acting dream in France. Camera in hand, her daughter Lina questions her mother\u2019s bold choices and the way the women in her family \u2013 who she has left behind \u2013 have influenced her life<\/p>\n 28 Jan<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with director) Short Film Programme <\/b><\/span>Four shorts, total run time about 90 minutes<\/p>\n 30 Jan<\/strong> 9pm (screenings plus Q&A with Red Passport protagonist Yara Alsaade) Notes On Displacement<\/b> <\/span>dir Khaled Jarrar <\/i>(2022) <\/i>Documentary following a single family of refugees on a gruelling journey to Germany. Their fear, disorientation, and solidarity is palpable<\/p>\n 2 Feb<\/strong> 9pm Unless otherwise noted, screenings are at Cinema Akil; tickets are normally AED 52.50. Note that Quoz Art fest runs 27 and 28 January, and for films on those dates you\u2019ll have to pay extra to actually get into Alserkal Avenue (AED 63 for the weekend, and well worth it anyway).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n4 Feb<\/strong> 5pm 7pm 9.30pm<\/p>\n
\n3 Feb<\/strong> 9.30pm<\/p>\n
\n31 Jan<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with directors)<\/p>\n
\n1 Feb<\/strong> 9.15pm<\/p>\n
\n31 Jan<\/strong> 9.15pm<\/p>\n
\n30 Jan<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with director)<\/p>\n
\n29 Jan<\/strong> 7pm<\/p>\n
\n1 Feb<\/strong> 7pm (screenings plus Q&A with Heavy Metal director Waleed Abu Nada)<\/p>\n
\n3 Feb<\/strong> 7pm (screening plus Q&A with director)<\/p>\n
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