Documentaries and films have long been a popular way tapped by the Palestinian filmmakers to express their cause regionally and globally.
The recent Israeli-Palestinian fighting have urged many Palestinian filmmakers to make some of their films available online to raise awareness about the Palestinian cause.
Here are some of the top-rated films that feature the Palestinian cause.
1. They Do Not Exist (1974)
The short documentary is directed by Mustafa Abu Ali, one of the pioneers of the Palestinian documentary films. It features the Palestinian resistance movement. Also, it shows a clear repudiation of the Israeli claims that Palestine was a “land without a people”.
It also addresses the conditions in Lebanon’s refugee camps, the impacts of Israeli assaults, and the lives of guerrillas in training camps.
2. Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996)
‘Chronicle of a Disappearance’ is a dramatic film by Palestinian director and actor Elia Suleiman.
It mainly documents the loss of the national Palestinian identity in Israel’s Arab population.
It also features the psychological effect of political instability on the Palestinian people.
Suleiman plays himself returning to Israel and the West Bank after a long absence which is followed by a series of barely connected vignettes and sketches, which are intended to convey the feelings of restlessness and uncertainty from Palestinian statelessness.
Chronicle of a Disappearance won the Best First Film award at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. Also in 1997, it was approved to be screened in the United states.
3. Jenin, Jenin (2003)
Receiving the best film in the Carthage Film Festival, “Jenin, Jenin” has been one of the most influential documentaries about the Palestinian struggles.
Directed by Mohamed Bakri, the movie portrays the 2002 “battle of Jenin” which was a deadly confrontation between the Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Director Mohamed Bakri has succeeded in depicting the pain, tragic and devastation of the battle in his documentary.
4. Occupation 101: Voice of the Silenced Majority (2006)
Occupation 101 is a 2006 documentary film on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, directed by Sufyan Omeish and Abdallah Omeish.
It focuses on the effects of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and discusses events following the second Intifada.
Occupation 101 includes a number of interviews with some American, Israeli intellectuals, religious leaders, human rights specialists, nearly half of whom are Jewish.
They all stand against the human rights abuses by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
5. The Time that Remains (2009)
‘The time that remains’ gives an examination of the creation of the Israeli state in 1948 to the present.
Directed by Elia Suleiman, “The time that remains” tells the story of Suleiman’s own family in Nazareth, and his father, Fuad Suleiman.
The film was screened in the 2009 Cannes Film Festival; it was also screened at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.
In November 2009, the film won the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film also won the Critics Prize of the Argentinian Film Critics Association at Mar del Plata International Film Festival.
On Thursday, Palestinians and Israelis agreed on an Egyptian-brokered “mutual and spontaneous” ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip as of Friday May 21 at 2:00 am (Palestine time).
Two weeks ago, Israeli forces had entered Al-Aqsa mosque, driving the Muslim prayers out.
In response, fighting and military operations started between the Palestinian resistance groups and the Israeli forces.
UN and many international organisations, including the Arab League and the Arab parliament, have called for stopping bloodshed of innocent civilians in Gaza strip.
Discussion about this post