Pictures, TV shows featuring Palestine
More needs to be done internationally
Part 2
In the past few decades, various international films, series, and documentaries have portrayed the challenges faced by the Palestinian people. However, there’s a need for more productions through cinema on this topic. This collection aims to show the Palestinian narrative, depicting the resistance against oppression.
Each piece in this compilation, ranging from documentaries to cinematic films, serves as a window for audiences to observe and connect with the injustices endured by the Palestinian community. Through these films, our goal is to deepen understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offering a platform for voices – from children orphaned by conflict to a poet and a peaceful protester – that seek to be heard, sharing stories that deserve attention.
The cinematic film ‘Omar,’ directed by Hany Abu-Assad and produced in 2013. A young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he’s tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier’s killing. The film won a special award from the jury of the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at the Cannes Festival in its record.
Abu-Assad has another film titled ‘Paradise Now’ (2005) that follows two Palestinian friends recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. It received critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award.
The documentary ‘Occupation 101,’ (2006) directed by brothers Abdallah and Sufyan Omeish, produced in 2006, winning the Best Editing Award at the 2007 Beverly Hills Film Festival.
The film presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace.
‘Broken Cameras’ (2011) is directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi. This documentary follows Burnat’s life in the West Bank and his documentation of resistance to Israeli settlements using five different cameras.
The animated documentary ‘The Wanted 18’ (2014), directed by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan, tells the story of a group of Palestinians who bought 18 cows and started a dairy farm in the 1980s during the First Intifada.
Directed by Mohammed Bakri, ‘Jenin, Jenin’ (2002), is a documentary exploring the events that took place in the Jenin refugee camp during the 2002 Israeli military operation.
‘The Time That Remains’ (2009), is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, spanning several decades, offering a personal perspective on the Palestinian experience.
Yaser Murtaja became most notably known for Al Jazeera’s documentary ‘Gaza: Surviving
Shujayea’.
On the 13th day of Israel’s assault on Gaza in July 2014, it declared the neighbourhood of Shujayea a closed military zone. That neighbourhood was home to eight-year-old Bisan Daher and her family. Israeli attacks on the area forced thousands of residents to flee and killed at least 72.
As Israeli planes flew overhead, a Palestinian ambulance team heard someone crying for help from deep beneath the remains of a home. It was Bisan. Six members of her family had been killed in the bombing.
This film tells the story of her survival against the odds and of the close bond that formed between the young girl and her rescuers.
Another documentary made by Al Jazeera is ‘Farah: Scarred by Gaza’s War’. When Israeli forces attacked her home in Gaza, killing her mother, grandfather, aunt and three uncles, three-year-old Farah was left with third-degree burns.
This film follows her journey as she travels to the US for treatment, undergoing medical care surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and tells the story of the Arab American families who take her in during her nine-month ordeal.
‘Skies Above Hebron: Growing up Palestinian in the occupied West Bank’ depicts three Palestinian boys grow up in the divided heart of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
Over five years, this film follows the challenges and hopes of the boys, Amer, Anas and Marwaan, as they face threats to arrest them and Israeli settlers eager to move into their homes.
‘Defying My Disability’, directed by Ramzi Maqdisi, is a 2016 film in which we meet seven Palestinians aged between seven and 28 with different disabilities. Most were born with them; one was injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
In the face of conflict, occupation, tragedy and disability – in places ill-equipped to handle special needs – we see how they have learned to navigate complex challenges with optimism and strength.
‘Between Fire & Sea: The Man Behind Gaza’s Great March of Return’ is also of high significance.
“What would happen if thousands of Gazans, most of them refugees, attempted to peacefully cross the fence that separated them from their ancestral lands?” was a question posed by Ahmed Abu Artema, a Palestinian poet and non-violence resistance activist, on Facebook.
His post went viral and became the rallying cry that inspired a movement of peaceful protests known as the Great March of Return. Many of the marches took on a carnival-like atmosphere, with people of all ages and even traditional dabke dancers in attendance. But they were met with violence.
This film follows Ahmed as he visits some of the injured and relatives of those killed and tries to reconcile the human toll with his belief in the power of non-violence.
Al Jazeera released a featured documentary titled ‘The War in June 1967’.
The June 1967 war lasted only six days but its consequences are still felt across the region to this day. It redrew the landscape of the conflict, expanded Israel’s territorial claims and confirmed its military dominance in the region.
This film examines the roots of the war as well as the six days of conflict and their consequences.
‘Israel’s Automated Occupation: Hebron’ by Tariq Nafi is a two-part series examines Israeli surveillance in Hebron and Jerusalem.
The first part explores AI-powered surveillance in Hebron and the previously unknown facial recognition system “Red Wolf”, uncovered by Amnesty International and Breaking the Silence.
The second part discusses Israel’s surveillance of Palestinians in Al-Quds and the secret Israeli unit responsible for spying on and blackmailing them.
‘Rebel Architecture: The architecture of violence’ is the Episode 2, Season 1 of ‘Rebel Architecture’ which is a short documentary in 2014 by London-based producer-director Ana Naomi de Sousa.
Israeli architect Eyal Weizman explains how architecture plays a key role in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and modern warfare.
“Architecture and the built environment is a kind of slow violence. The occupation is an environment that was conceived to strangulate Palestinian communities, villages and towns, to create an environment that would be unlivable for the people there,” says Weizman.
‘The present’ is 2020 short film made by Farah Nabulsi. “On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?” the synopsis reads.
‘3000 Nights’ is a 2015 drama made by Mai Masri which is about a young Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to her son in an Israeli prison where she fights to protect him, survive and maintain hope.
From documentaries dissecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s hidden truths, such as ‘Occupation 101,’ to gripping dramas like ‘Omar’ and ‘3000 Nights’ that depict personal stories of resilience, these films play a crucial role in having a deeper understanding of these complex realities. They provide a platform for voices that often go unheard, sharing stories that demand attention and empathy.
As we navigate the narratives of survival, defiance, and hope within these cinematic creations, it becomes evident that there is a need for more productions that clear up the various aspects of Palestinian life. In a world where storytelling holds great power, these cinematic pieces serve as powerful tools for bridging gaps in understanding and fostering compassion for the Palestinian experience.