Here you will find a chronological list of all past events which we have organised. For a list of all the past festivals and special projects see the Programme Archive page.
Time: 20:15 - 21:50
Location: Palestine Museum BS1 2HG
There are few places in the world that evoke such a strong visceral response as Gaza. This unique and vibrant land, rich in culture and history, is home to a people who are oppressed and dehumanized but who are also resilient and strong, and who want nothing more than to live normal lives. How do you tell the story of such a place?
Time: 13:30
Location: Watershed BS1 5TX
Three decades ago Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass (Paradise Now, Succession) left her native village Deir Hanna in Galilee to follow her acting dream in France. After finding success in independent cinema and Hollywood she returns to Tiberias with her film director daughter Lina to explore her memories and the women she left behind.
Time: 20:30 - 21:55
Location: The Cube BS2 8NQ
Our second evening of short films features stories from the complexity of Palestinian youth, from escaping a war-torn childhood in Gaza to unwanted pregnancy, or rock climbing near Israeli settlements.
Time: 17:00 - 19:15
Location: Watershed BS1 5TX
From the makers of Gaza (2019), this film is a searing and intimate portrait of Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, home to some of the poorest and most downtrodden people in the city.
Time: 18:00 - 19:45
Location: Watershed BS1 5TX
The Dupes is a classic of Arab cinema, and an adaptation of Palestinian exile Ghassan Kanafani’s novella Men in the Sun.
Time: 19:30 - 20:10
Location: The Cube BS2 8NQ
This film shines a light on those struggling to fight the injustices embedded within the Israeli occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank and those living in Israel.
Time: 18:30
Location: Little Theatre Cinema, Bath BA1 1SG
There are few places in the world that evoke such a strong visceral response as Gaza. This unique and vibrant land, rich in culture and history, is home to a people who are oppressed and dehumanized but who are also resilient and strong, and who want nothing more than to live normal lives. How do you tell the story of such a place?
Time: 19:30 - 20:55
Location: Palestine Museum BS1 2HG
Our first shorts evening features five short films exploring memories of a lost homeland, and one that is kept alive in stories, daydreams and dancing.
Time: 18:30 - 19:45
Location: Palestine Museum BS1 2HG
Foragers depicts the drama, pleasures and difficulties in collecting wild food in occupied Palestine.
Time: 19:30 - 21:00
Location: Sparks, BS1 3DS
Bristol Palestine Film Festival is teaming up with Bristol’s dynamic live poetry night Raise the Bar for an evening of spoken word, film and discussion in support of Palestine, on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.
Time: 16:00 - 18:30
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Based on a true story, Jordanian director Darin J. Sallam tells the coming-of-age story of 14-year old Farha, whose childhood, and her dreams of an education, are shattered following the brutal military invasion of her country.
Time: 12:30
Location: Stoke Gifford Community Hall, BS34 6HR
A special event for the Palestinian community and Arabic speakers.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
Filmed over the span of eight years, The Devil’s Drivers follows two Bedouin drivers who risk their lives smuggling illegal workers out of the West Bank.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Alam is a story of how a Palestinian teenager is no different from any other around the world embarking on new experiences, chasing dreams, love, and freedom.
Time: 15:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Among the many gifts Jason Sherman received for his bar mitzvah was a tree planted in Israel. Now, 40 years later, Sherman begins his journey from Toronto to Tel Aviv, keen to see what has become of his tree. However, along the way he learns about the Jewish National Fund afforestation projects and the role of the Canadian Jewish diaspora in developing Canada Park, a 700-hectare Israeli national park which covers the remains of Palestinian villages.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
Three women with distinct personalities must put their differences aside and work together in order to survive, after a death in the family unravels their lives.
Time: 17:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
For 11 days in May 2021, Gaza was bombed by Israel, resulting in more than 260 fatalities. This film portrays the individual loss and sorrow of families and friends who lost their children in the bombing.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Staring actors Maisa Abd Elhadi and Ali Suliman, Huda’s Salon is a feminist thriller based on true events, about betrayal and loyalty when two women fight for their freedom.
Time: 20:00
Location: Palestine Museum, 27 Broad St, BS1 2HG
Fadia, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, challenges the film’s director, Sarah Beddington to find an ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family’s existence. Along the way, Sarah meets with ornithologists whose observations on the homing instincts of the birds inadvertently reveal the unresolved problems of the region.
Time: 17:40
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Waleed is a failing writer suffering from depression. He develops a friendship with his mysterious neighbour Jalal, a small-time crook, and subsequently finds his perception of life beginning to slowly change.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
From Chilean stadiums to Palestine refugee camps, from Santiago to Bethlehem. Spanning over 100 years of history, Cuatro Colores narrates the intertwining histories of the Club Deportivo Palestino (Palestinian Football Club) and key moments in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Aldo Guerrero’s documentary reveals a story of injustice and abuse of war power with a legacy that is worldwide.
Time: 20:00
Location: Palestine Museum, BS1 2HG
Our shorts programme this year consists of seven films: By the Sea, The Living of the Pigeons, Mariam, TAQI, Night, Siri Miri and Wifi Rider.
Time: 19:30
Location: St. Georges, BS1 5RR
An evening of film dedicated to the brilliant musicians emerging from this scene, showcasing their music, perspectives and struggles as they celebrate life through their art and channel their drive for self-determination
Time: 19:00
Location: Folk House, BS1 5JG
Stand Up for Palestine is a comedy night with the fabulous Mark Thomas, the wonderfully anarchic Nick Revell, the hilarious and biting Esther Manito and a new dark humour sketch, Gaza Taxi Driver, by Palestinian author Ahmed Masoud.
Time: 19:00
Location: Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, BA1 2HN
Among the many gifts Jason Sherman received for his bar mitzvah was a tree planted in Israel. Now, 40 years later, Sherman begins his journey from Toronto to Tel Aviv, keen to see what has become of his tree. However, along the way he learns about the Jewish National Fund afforestation projects and the role of the Canadian Jewish diaspora in developing Canada Park, a 700-hectare Israeli national park which covers the remains of Palestinian villages.
Time: 18:00
Location: Arnolfini, BS1 4QA
An attorney from Arizona, a news publisher in Arkansas and a speech therapist in Texas launch legal battles when they are forced to choose between their jobs and their political beliefs.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to freedom fighters, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a controversial Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for nearly 50 years, Tsemel is engaged in a tireless fight for justice in a court system that discriminates against Palestinians.
Time: 17:20
Location: Watershed, 1 Canons Rd, BS1 5TX
Based on a true story, the film follows Salma and Tamer, who have been married for the past five years, and living in the Palestinian Territory. When the couple decide to split, Tamer is given a three-day permit to cross the Israeli checkpoint for the first time, and file for divorce in the courts in Nazareth. At the courthouse, they are confronted with a staggering discovery, a secret which sends Salma and Tamer on a road trip exploring the loss and betrayal of the past, and of themselves.
Time: 14:40
Location: Watershed, 1 Canons Rd, BS1 5TX
200 Meters tells the story of Mustafa and his wife Salwa, who live 200 metres apart in villages separated by the wall. One day he gets a call every parent dreads: his son has been injured in an accident. Rushing to cross the Israeli checkpoint, Mustafa is turned back on a technicality.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
The free-spirited Badri family have escaped the toxic pollution of Beirut by seeking refuge in the mountains. Lebanon’s toxic waste soon catches up with them and they face a choice between leaving and resistance.
Time: 17:30
Location: Watershed, 1 Canons Rd, BS1 5TX
The life of a desperate unlicensed doctor who is going through an existential crisis in the occupied Golan Heights, takes another unlucky turn when he encounters a man wounded in the war in Syria.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
Following the story of Georges Abdallah – Lebanese communist, fighter for Palestine and one of the longest held political prisoners in Europe – and the defiant followers campaigning for his release.
Time: 17:40
Location: Watershed, 1 Canons Rd, BS1 5TX
A real-life political saga following Musa Hadid, the Christian mayor of Ramallah, during his second term in office. His immediate goals: repave the sidewalks, attract more tourism, and plan the city’s Christmas celebrations. His ultimate mission: to end the occupation of Palestine.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum, 27 Broad St, BS1 2HG
Five short films: Blacklisted, Trumpets in the Sky, 3 Logical Exits, Maradona's Legs, The Present.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum, 27 Broad St, BS1 2HG
During the Syrian civil war, the district of Yarmouk, which is home to thousands of displaced Palestinians, became the scene of dramatic and ferocious fighting. This filmed diary documents the daily life of the besieged inhabitants of the world’s largest Palestinian refugee camp.
Time: 13:30
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, BS2 8JD
Sixty-year-old fisherman Issa is secretly in love with Siham. One night Issa discovers an ancient phallic statue of Apollo in his fishing nets and takes it home under the cover of darkness. As Issa works up the confidence to talk to Siham, will the Hamas authorities find out about the shameful statue before he succeed in declaring his love to Siham.
Location: 1532 Performing Arts Centre, Clifton, BS8 1SJ
A play written and directed by Ahmed Masoud Performed by Julia Tarnoky
Location: Online
An uncompromising documentary following a Palestian football team of amputees, whose courage and energy shines through despite their disability, the war, and their disastrous living conditions. Most of the men had to be amputated when they took part in the March Back Home demonstration at the border of the Gaza Strip, where explosive bullets were used by the Israeli army.
Location: Online
A documentary following the stories of four young Palestinians who have been detained and imprisoned under the Israeli military and political systems. Their perspectives, along with the voices of their families, form a lens into the entangled structures of oppression that expands well beyond the prison walls.
Location: Online
From a young age, Nour Al Ghussein stood out. She was selected for global leadership programs in South Africa and Harvard but couldn’t attend either due to the siege on her native Gaza. Next, she was selected for a student leadership program in the US. The film shadows Nour at 21, as she struggles to overcome the restrictions on Gazans who wish to leave the Strip, even if they have the most compelling case to do so.
Location: Online
A young woman in her mid-thirties lives an ordinary life between her work and home. We discover however, that she is living in a fantasy world, which she created to help tolerate her destiny.
Location: Online
In a chaotic refugee camp, two Palestinians failing in their attempt to record a demo for a music competition, find a creative way forward.
Location: Online
A conversation over video call between Farah, who recently moved to Prague, and her grandmother, living in Lebanon; they talk about their fate as Palestinian refugees who were granted the Lebanese citizenship in 1994. The two women, from different generations, touch on topics that are filled with emotions, memories and hope.
Location: Online
This documentary tells the story of three teenage girls that live in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Haifa, who despite being no more than 100 km apart are separated by walls and checkpoints. Through observations of their daily lives, we learn that although their backgrounds are very different, they are united by a common desire for peace and an end to the occupation.
Location: Online
Filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter embarks on a personal journey to explore how her kids will relate to their roots in Palestine – a place in which they may never live. She meets a painter, a comedian, a poet, a hip-hop artist and a soul singer who have figured out ways to express and celebrate their Palestinian identity, which is under constant threat in their homeland.
Location: Online
A part of the Bedouin minority lives between Jerusalem and Jericho in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, suffering particularly from the loss of their identity, forced to remain locked down in that territory and to become sedentary. For this reason, poverty, degradation and domestic violence were born. This film reports their strength and will to resist and change for the better.
Location: Online
An archival essay about images, nationhood and oppression and how history is manufactured to continually return to a mythical past. Using footage from films (educational, propaganda, home movies) about Palestine/Israel, it reflects upon the narratives of nationhood and its dependence upon images. From biblical to recent history, Israel’s identity is constructed around a never-ending loop where the ideology is centred around the return of a mythical past.
Location: Online
Reflections From Palestine is a collection of voices from Palestinian filmmakers on exceptional experiences. It is a testimony of a particular time and simultaneously speaks to a feeling that is understood worldwide. The films display personal film languages and reach out to collective stories expressing Palestine's diversity and a broad span of emotions: from boredom to enjoyment, anger, fear, confusion, and complexities of quarantine days.
Location: Online
On June 9, 1967, the Egyptian president at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser informed citizens of their country's defeat in the war. During the speech, he also announced his resignation. This film stylistically weaves found footage from Egyptian film and television at the time, to reconstruct Nasser's speech.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, BS2 8NQ
In the shadow of a wall stands a new generation of Palestinians. With defiant creativity – and a passion for parkour – they prove that no matter the height of the obstacle, one can always climb.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Elia Suleiman brings deadpan humour to this Cannes award-winning film, as he travels to different cities and finds unexpected parallels to his homeland.
Time: 16:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
This delightful film uses stop-frame and 2D animation to tell the story of Wardi, a young girl living in a Palestinian refugee camp, who learns about her family's history through three previous generations of refugees.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, BS2 8NQ
In order to confront the ghosts that haunt him, Palestinian director Raed Andoni assembles a group of ex-prisoners to build a replica of Israel’s main interrogation centre, where he was once jailed, and re-enact its stories.
Time: 19:00
Location: St George's Bristol
An inspirational story about social entrepreneur Mariam Shaar and her fellow refugee women who set out to change their fate by launching a catering company.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
A 2000-year old statue of Apollo is found near Gaza, only to disappear all of a sudden. This documentary film is full of mystery and unexpected plot twists.
Time: 17:00
Location: St George
Bristol Palestine Film Festival is delighted to welcome Ahmed Masoud as our writer in residence at this year’s festival.
Time: 15:00
Location: Palestine Museum, BS1 2HG
Bringing together a collection of some of the best short films to emerge from Palestine and about Palestinians this year, including drama, documentary and animation.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, BS2 8NQ
In this beautifully shot documentary about everyday life in the ‘open prison’ of Gaza, the headlines are stripped back and the political brinkmanship side-lined to make way for individual human stories, and the struggle for a meaningful life.
Time: 19:00
Location: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
Despite being worlds apart, Sarah and Saleem risk everything as they embark on an illicit affair that could tear apart their unsuspecting respective families.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
After spending more than a decade in prison for a failed attack on an Israeli settler, Ziad struggles to readjust to life in Ramallah.
Time: 19:30
Location: Curzon Clevedon, BS21 6NN
In this beautifully shot documentary about everyday life in the ‘open prison’ of Gaza, the headlines are stripped back and the political brinkmanship side-lined, to make way for individual human stories, and the struggle for a meaningful life.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Stunningly shot in atmospheric black and white, this otherworldly rumination on memory, history, place and identity premiered at the Venice Biennale in 2019.
Time: 15:50
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Screening of four lost films from the Palestine Film Unit, made in the revolutionary 60s and 70s and now restored to pristine condition. Don’t miss this memorable event.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Windmill Film Club, BS3 4LU
Tired of the restrictions of living under occupation and the conservative Hamas government, a group of young men and women find their freedom in the waves of the Mediterranean – they are the surfers of Gaza.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Lazy Dog, BS7 9JR
Shadi returns to Nazareth for his sister’s wedding and despite a strained relationship, agrees to help his father hand-deliver the invitations to each guest, as per local Palestinian custom.
Time: 19:30
Location: St Margaret’s Hall, Bradford-upon-Avon
Despite being worlds apart, Sarah and Saleem risk everything as they embark on an illicit affair that could tear apart their unsuspecting respective families.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum, BS1 2HG
An intimate semi-biographical portrait of Palestinians living as a minority in their own homeland between 1948 and the present day, from the acclaimed director of Divine Intervention.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum, BS1 2HG
In 2007 Banksy slips into Palestine to paint on walls. What follows is a story of clashing cultures, art, identity, theft and the black market.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove Street South, BS2 8JD, Bristol
Salam, a charming 30-year-old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, works as an intern on a popular Palestinian soap opera, “Tel Aviv on Fire,” which is produced in Ramallah. Every day Salam must pass through an arduous Israeli checkpoint to reach the television studios. He meets the commander of the checkpoint, Assi, whose wife is a huge fan of the show. In order to impress her, Assi gets involved in the writing of the show.
Time: 19:30
Location: The Curzon, 46 Old Church Rd, Clevedon BS21 6NN
In today’s Beirut, an insult blown out of proportions finds Toni, a Lebanese Christian, and Yasser, a Palestinian refugee, in court. From secret wounds to traumatic revelations, the media circus surrounding the case puts Lebanon through a social explosion, forcing Toni and Yasser to reconsider their lives and prejudices. Director Ziad Doueiri masterfully takes this private clash of wills as a starting point to explore historic rifts between Lebanese communities, and the aftermath of the civil war. Using both humour and pathos, The Insult is ultimately a plea for empathy, forgiveness and peace.
Time: 17:40
Location: The Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank while her mother was in prison, Walaa dreams of being a policewoman, wearing a uniform, avoiding marriage, and earning a salary. Despite discouragement, Walaa applies – and gets in. This intimate documentary follows Walaa from aged 15 to 21,brings us the story of a young woman navigating formidable obstacles, learning which rules to break and follow, and disproving the negative predictions from her surroundings and the world at large.
Time: 14:40
Location: The Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Independent journalists Max Blumenthal and Dan Cohen documented Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza during the war, and chronicled its horrific aftermath. As they waded through the rubble of Gaza’s destroyed border regions, they turned a camera onto the survivors of the slaughter and let them speak for themselves. While giving voice to the pain of a people under siege, Cohen and Blumenthal also highlighted Gazans’ inspiring acts of creative resistance, from painting to break-dancing to literature, that allow them maintain their humanity in the face of deprivation and war.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove Street South, BS2 8JD, Bristol
Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a schoolteacher in his mid-60s living in Nazareth. After his daughter’s wedding in one month he will be living alone. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father in hand delivering the wedding invitations to each guest as per local Palestinian custom. As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives.
Time: 17:30
Location: The Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
In today’s Beirut, an insult blown out of proportions finds Toni, a Lebanese Christian, and Yasser, a Palestinian refugee, in court. From secret wounds to traumatic revelations, the media circus surrounding the case puts Lebanon through a social explosion, forcing Toni and Yasser to reconsider their lives and prejudices. Director Ziad Doueiri masterfully takes this private clash of wills as a starting point to explore historic rifts between Lebanese communities, and the aftermath of the civil war. Using both humour and pathos, The Insult is ultimately a plea for empathy, forgiveness and peace.
Time: 14:00
Location: Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre, 27 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HG
Bringing together a collection of some of the best short films to emerge from Palestine this year including drama, documentary and animation. More info about the shorts will follow soon. There will be an interval during the screening where there will be the opportunity to purchase delicious Palestinian food from the museum café.
Time: 20:30
Location: The Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Sarah is Israeli and runs a café in West Jerusalem. Saleem is Palestinian from East Jerusalem and works as a deliveryman. Despite being worlds apart, Sarah and Saleem risk everything as they embark on an illicit affair that could tear apart their unsuspecting respective families. When a risky late-night tryst goes awry and threatens to expose them, the two of them look on helplessly as their frantic efforts to salvage what’s left of their lives further escalate things. Caught up in the occupying machinery and socio-political pressure, Sarah and Saleem find themselves trapped in a web of deceit and not even the truth looks able to stop it.
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, Dove Street South, BS2 8JD, Bristol
Documenting the lives of four young people daring to dream in Gaza, a land strip sealed off from the outside world. Stuck between walls these four Gazans try to build their lives. One wants to marry his niece, a second tries to rebuild his bombarded house, a third tries to flee the strip and the last turns to weapons. Together they unite in a football team, the only place where they can forget about everything. Outside of the football pitch, they pray and they fight for a better future, despite the hardships in war-torn Gaza.
Time: 18:30
Location: The Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
A feature-length animated film written by and starring preeminent British playwright and two-time Academy Award nominee David Hare. The film follows the writer on a trip to the Middle East to explore the impact the wall separating Israel and Palestine has had on the people of the region. Using advanced animation tools and 3D motion-capture footage, filmmaker Cam Christiansen employs a distinctive handcrafted approach that conveys the reality of the 708-kilometre barrier as no film has before. Rich with rhythmic, raw imagery, the film is framed by Hare’s journey, as both his heart and mind are shaken by the incongruities and contradictions of life in the shadow of the wall.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre, 27 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HG
When a nationwide uprising breaks out in 1987, a woman in Gaza must make a choice between love, family and freedom. Undaunted, she embraces all three, joining a clandestine network of women in a movement that forces the world to recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination for the first time. Using evocative under-camera animation, intimate interviews, and exclusive archival footage, this film brings out of anonymity the courageous women who shook the Israeli occupation and put Palestinians on the map for the first time.
Time: 19:30
Location: The Windmill Pub, 14 Windmill Hill, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4LU
Maysaloun Hamoud’s spiky, compelling debut feature is an eye-opening portrait of three strong, independent minded Israeli-Palestinian women sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv. A terrific exploration of the struggle to be true to oneself when confronted by the expectations of others, Hamoud’s film brilliantly depicts how these women, away from the constraints of their families, find themselves ‘in between’ the free and unfettered lives they’re aspiring to lead and the restrictions still imposed on them by their country and their families.
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre, 27 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HG
Against a background of bombed out buildings, relentless Israeli incursions, and the prison-like existence of life in the Gaza Strip, a small group of resilient locals have found a way to escape – in the laid back, mellow sport of surfing. This heart-warming documentary is a celebration of youth and self-expression, focusing on the protagonists’ struggles to do what they love, in the face of societal and familial pressure in the depressing reality of life in the Gaza enclave.
Time: 18:00
Location: The Cube
Adam (writer/director Shady Srour) and Lamia (Laëtitia Eïdo) are a Christian Arab couple from Nazareth – members of a vanishing minority in the Holy Land. When Lamia becomes pregnant, Adam decides he has to get serious about providing for his family. He embarks on his riskiest business venture to date: bottling holy air and selling it to the city’s tourists.
Time: 19:00
Location: The Greenbank
From Qalqilya to Bethlehem via Ramallah, the film follows six skateboarders as they pursue their passion for skating despite limited infrastructure, equipment and travel, as well as facing the challenges of living under military occupation.
Time: 17:30
Location: The Watershed
Maysaloun Hamoud's spiky, compelling debut feature is an eye-opening portrait of three strong, independent minded Israeli-Palestinian women sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv. Showing with the short Izriqaq.
Time: 14:30
Location: The Watershed
An assured debut documentary from Ramallah-based director Mohanad Yaqubi. Drawing on recently discovered and archival found-footage it explores the fraught history of Palestine and Palestinian filmmaking. Showing with the shirt Shujayya
Time: 18:00
Location: The Watershed
The debut feature from writer/director Maha Haj that gives a bitingly comic treatment to the lives and dissatisfactions of a Palestinian family across three generations. Showing with the short Occupied Skies.
Time: 20:30
Location: Exchange 72 - 73 Old Market, Bristol, BS2 0EJ
Palestinian rooted, London-based hip-hop group 47SOUL will be performing at The Exchange on Friday 8 December. Their energetic Electro Arabic Dabke 'ShamStep' sound and powerful lyrics in English and Arabic has rapidly amassed an international fan base. The lasting impact of each show is testament to their growing popularity and respected presence in the underground music scene.
Time: 18:00
Location: The Watershed
Hip-hop beats are at the heart of this provocative and fiery musical drama starring Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar as a fictionalized version of himself (Kareem). When family tragedy strikes, Kareem realises he must make a decision – to take his life and situation seriously, or to carry on as he always has and risk losing everything.
Time: 19:00
Location: Palestine Museum
Using the theme of traditional Palestine embroidery, the film stitches together the stories of 12 strong Palestinian women – many of whom are living in exile – who use embroidered pieces to share memories of their homeland.
Time: 20:00 - 22:00
Location: Windmill Pub, Windmill Hill, 14 Windmill Hill, Bristol BS3 4LU
The Speed Sisters are the first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, SPEED SISTERS takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.
Time: 18:00
Location: The Arts House Cafe, 108A Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RU.
Bethlehem: Hidden From View is a film about the strangling and imprisonment of the 'Little Town' of Bethlehem and its impact on the local Christian community.
Time: 19:30
Location: Baggator, The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
Want to meet Palestine’s first all-female race-car drivers? Marah, Betty, Maysoon, Khalid and Mona are the stars of this fast and furious documentary about the adrenalin-filled world of motor sports in the West Bank.
Time: 15:30
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Inspired by a true story and shot in a real prison, 3000 Nights tells the story of a newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher who is falsely arrested and incarcerated in an Israeli prison where she gives birth to her son. Through her struggle to raise her child behind bars, the film traces a young mother’s journey of hope, resilience and survival against all odds.
Time: 12:45
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Oriented follows the lives of three Palestinian friends exploring their national and sexual identity in Tel-Aviv during the Israel-Gaza conflict of 2014. Filmed in the lead-up to the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, this engrossing documentary from Jake Witzenfeld is, according to the Telegraph, “redefines what it means to be gay, Arab and living in Israel...”
Time: 19:30
Location: Palestine Museum, 27 Broad St, Bristol BS1 2HG
Shoufani's poetry tackles issues of Palestine, freedom, feminist issues in the Arab world and promotes a different perspective on Arab women. Love, Lust, death and identity are main themes in the free verse poetry.
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
An art house feature-length documentary exploring the last 70 years of Palestinian politics seen through the prism of the life of the filmmaker’s father, Dr. Elias Shoufani, a leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and an academic and leftist intellectual who was one of the leaders of the opposition to Arafat within Fatah for 20 years.
Time: 20:45
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Mousa wants to get out of the Palestinian slums, so steals a car expecting a big payoff – but there’s an awful surprise in the trunk...
Time: 18:30
Location: Little Theatre Cinema, 1-2 St. Michaels Place, Bath, BA1 1SF
Fantastically fearless documentary about the first all-female race car driving team in the Middle East. Seriously inspirational and fast-paced. Dir. Amber Fares | 2015 | 80 mins | Cert 15...
Time: 15:45
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
In an investigation of the twilight zone between narrative, history and autobiography, Chronicle of a Disappearance is a deceptively simple drama representing a highly personal return home. Through his quasi-aimless roaming’s the director explores what the he perceives as a loss of national identity in the Arab population of Israel as the film itself moves between documentary, fiction, reminiscence and present.
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Kasem Hawal’s adaptation of the Ghassan Kanafani novella. The film tells of Safia and Saeed, who are forced to leave their 5 month old son Khaldoun in the city of Haifa when they are expelled in April 1948. Twenty years on the couple are able to travel to Haifa. They discover that Khaldoun was adopted by Jewish immigrants arriving in 1948, and – now 20 – has recently enlisted in the Israeli army.
Time: 15:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Three Palestinian Christian sisters who’ve lost their land and status due to the 1967 war with Israel aren’t able to face the painful new reality that’s been imposed on them, so they lock themselves away in their big house and continue to live in a time warp. Within the villa’s crumbling walls, the sisters live in their own personal bubbles, each with her own secrets, dreams and failed love story, hidden behind a mask of manners and propriety.
Time: 18:15
Location: Courtyard, Edgar Street, Hereford, HR4 9JR
Three Palestinian Christian sisters who’ve lost their land and status due to the 1967 war with Israel aren’t able to face the painful new reality that’s been imposed on them, so they lock themselves away in their big house and continue to live in a time warp. Their young niece walks into their lives and turns their world upside down.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Selma Dabbagh is a London based British Palestinian writer of novels, short stories and plays. Her first novel, Out of It, (Bloomsbury, 2011) is set between Gaza, London and the Gulf and has been voted Guardian Book of the Year. Selma also works as a lawyer. Annemarie Jacir is an award-winning director, poet and activist currently living between Palestine and Jordan.
Time: 18:00
Location: Waterhed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Jordan, 1967. Tarek, 11, and his mother Ghaydaa, are amongst this latest wave of refugees to pour across the border from Palestine. longing to be reunited with his father, Tarek searches a way out, and discovers a new hope emerging with the times. When I Saw You is the story of people affected by the times around them, in search of something more in their lives.
Time: 14:00
Location: Twitter
Join the director of Villa Touma, Suha Arraf, in a live twitter chat on 12th March at 2pm use #convocinema.
Time: 15:00
Location: Venue: Courtyard, Edgar Street, Hereford, HR4 9JR
An Oscar-nominated love story set against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Omar is a charismatic young Palestinian who routinely climbs over the towering Israeli security wall to visit his friends. At once a tender love story and a cat-and-mouse thriller, Omar is a powerful tale about the moral choices being faced by both sides of a conflict that shows no signs of letting up.
Time: 20:00
Location: Courtyard, Edgar Street, Hereford, HR4 9JR
Film director Leila Sansour returns to Bethlehem to make a film about her hometown, soon to be encircled by a wall. She left the city as a teenager thinking that Bethlehem was too small and provincial. She never wanted to return but this time she is making an exception.
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Film director Leila Sansour returns to Bethlehem to make a film about her home town, soon to be encircled by a wall. The film spans seven momentous years in the life of Bethlehem, revealing a city of astonishing beauty and political strife under occupation...
Time: 18:00
Location: Arts House Café, 108A Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RU.
Bethlehem: Hidden from View is a film about the strangling and imprisonment of the little town of Bethlehem and its impact on the local Christian community.
Time: 19:30
Location: Easton Community Cinema (Baggator), The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
An examination of the ways in which Christian holy sites, pilgrimages, and tourism in Palestine are effected by Israeli policies.
Time: 19:30
Location: Easton Community Cinema (Baggator), The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
This Al Jazeera Arabic/Focus film is about the experiences of Israeli-held Palestinian political prisoners on an open hunger strike to obtain better detention conditions.
Time: 19:30
Location: Easton Community Cinema (Baggator), The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
In December 2010, a forest fire in Mount Carmel near Haifa became the deadliest natural disaster in Israel's history. Over twenty countries responded to the call for help, including, to the surprise of many, the Palestinian Civil Defence...
Time: 17:30
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Soraya, 28, born and raised in Brooklyn, decides to return to live in Palestine, the country her family was exiled from in 1948. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever...
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon, Bristol, BS1 5TX
In 1980 a young 18-year-old Palestinian fighter called Ibrahim Salameh left his family in Kuwait to join those fighting for Palestinian freedom in Lebanon. Two years after joining the fighters, Ibrahim was shot while on duty leading to his paralysis, ending his dream of being part of the revolution...
Time: 11:00
Location: Watershed
Hind Shoufani is a Palestinian writer and filmmaker residing in Dubai. Born in Lebanon, and raised in Amman, Beirut and Damascus, she has been working with written media and audiovisual industries for the past 15 years.
Time: 20:30
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Omar is accustomed to dodging surveillance bullets to cross the separation wall to visit his secret love Nadia. But occupied Palestine knows neither simple love nor clear-cut war. On the other side of the wall, the sensitive young baker Omar becomes a freedom fighter who must face painful choices about life and manhood...
Time: 20:00
Location: All Hallows Hall, Easton
Dan Swank hosts Bristol's finest, most prestigious and ever-so-serious interpretive dance competition. Wear your finest lycra and register your entry on the night, or come to share in the abundant love and joy of Bristol's best expressionate dancing.
Time: 16:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canons Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Duma documents Arab women who dare to reveal the sexual abuse they endured in their close circle of family and friends. Together they aim to break the systems of silence which were imposed by family and society.
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon, Bristol, BS1 5TX
In Yarmouk (Syria), the Shebabs, a small group of boys & girls, have been friends since they were teens. Now on the eve of adulthood, they have a genuine thirst for life, while being all confronted to intricate situations.
Time: 20:00
Location: Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Samer lives in Ramallah in the West Bank. His family lives in Gaza, one hour away. They have not seen each other for six years. When Mustafa went for a visit to Gaza in 2006, he was 18 years old. He was never allowed to return...
Time: 20:00
Location: Cube Microplex, Dove St, Bristol BS2 8JD
CINEMA PALESTINE is feature length documentary that explores the life and work of multiple generations of Palestinian filmmakers and media artists.
Time: 18:45
Location: The Rondo, St. Saviours Road, Bath, BA1 6RT
This Oscar-nominated Palestinian film captures the very essence of the conflict that has festered and grown over the last 65 years. Omar is a young Palestinian who is part of the fight against what he and his countrymen regard as the illegal occupation of their land. An Israeli soldier is killed and Omar is captured.
Time: 19:30 - 10:00
Location: The Cube, Dove St S, Avon, Bristol BS2 8JD
In January 2009, during the war in Gaza, two courageous Israeli directors grabbed their cameras to shoot material along the common border. They film everyone, in every situation, with the same distance and the same closeness, the same empathy...
Time: 19:00
Location: THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR
Film director Leila Sansour returns to Bethlehem to make a film about her home town, soon to be encircled by a wall. She left the city as a teenager thinking that Bethlehem was too small and provincial. She never wanted to return but this time she is making an exception.
Time: 15:00
Location: Watershed
Screening at Encounters Short Film Festival http://encounters-festival.org.uk Our Souls Are Palestinian is a programme of short artists film works which look at Palestine from various perspectives, external, embedded and provocative....
Location: Watershed
Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) returns with this action-packed Oscar®-nominated love story set against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Omar (Adam Bakri) is a charismatic young Palestinian living in the...
Time: 20:00
Location: The Cube, BS2 8JD
Cinema Jenin is an enlightening documentary account of a tightrope evasion of political, cultural and economic obstacles to resurrect a decrepit Palestinian cinema.
Time: 17:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
The Red Stone reveals the stories uncovered of Palestinians who are still deeply attached to their family houses, and unprecedented individual efforts to reclaim of the rights unlawfully taken...
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
Apples of the Golan is the story of a village turned prison, full of rappers, rockers and regimes, salsa dancers, holy men and dead fish, traitors, lovers, freedom fighters and their heartbroken mothers all set to the background of the revolution...
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
This visceral ‘road movie’ chronicles the daily travails of Palestinians of all backgrounds as they seek routes through, under, around, and over the wall...
Time: 20:00 - 22:00
Location: Watershed, BS1 5TX
A journey full of adventure, love, humour, and the desire to be free, this is a story about that moment in a person's life when he wakes up and finds the whole world is open and everything is possible...
More to follow…
Time: 18:30 - 21:00
Location: Hamilton House, BS1 3QY
Dasa Raimanova, film director (Resistance Recipes) will be preparing mouth-watering recipes inspired by what she learned in Palestine. Dasa will demonstrate how to cook a Palestinian traditional recipe in front of the audience and reveal some of the secrets she picked up during her stay in Palestine...
Time: 11:00 - 12:30
Location: Watershed
Locally Sourced Locally Sourced is a showcase from British Council and Scottish Documentary Institute’s ‘Stories of Cities’ series, created as a travelling workshop to get local filmmakers to celebrate where...
Location: London
Some unmissable UK Premiere docs, art, and archive gems – all coming up at the 2013 London Palestine Film Festival between the 3rd – 15th May, 2013.
Location: Watershed
Currently on show at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is Pharoah: King of Egypt a British Museum Touring Exhibition which explores Egypt’s past, the iconic world of the Pharoahs, and includes many...
Time: 19:00 - 22:00
Location: Easton Community Centre
To Shoot an Elephant (Alberto Arce, Mohammad Rujailah, 2008, Spain, 112 mins) Filmed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead, this film is an eye-witness account of the atrocities...
Following the success of the 2012 festival The Bristol Palestine Film Festival is running a free digital photography and media course for all abilities. Covering the basics of digital photography,...
Time: 20:00
Location: Bristol Old Vic
This January festival friend, Ken Loach and three other performers are appearing in the production White Rabbit, Red Rabbit at Bristol Old Vic. In this wild, utterly original play from...
Time: 12:45
Location: The Park Centre, Daventry Road, Knowle, BS4 1DQ
Free Running, Gaza depicts the thoughts and dreams behind the first Gaza Parkcour Team, an initiative of two 22–year–old friends, Mohammed al–Jakhbeer and Abdallah Enshsi. The short documentary is proceeded by the opportunity to try Free Running at the new park in Knowle West.
Time: 19:00
Location: Hamilton House, BS1 3QY
Cycled powered cinema, smoothies, and an evening of the latest short films on Palestine presented in partnership with Easton Energy Group.
Location: 31/31a College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TB
Time: 15:00
Location: Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Twenty-something Palestinian-Israeli Jawdat just wants to have fun with his friends, talk on his cellphone and find love. Instead, he navigates unconvincing dates with Muslim, Christian, and Jewish girls, and wrestles with the Hebrew college entrance exam.
Time: 21:00
Location: Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Inspired by the classical love story, ‘Majnun Layla’ (madly in love with Layla), Habibi is the story of a young Bedouin named Qays whose world is turned upside down when Layla’s father refuses to give his blessing for his daughter to marry Qays.
Time: 13:00
Location: Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Like many Palestinian families, the Amers live surrounded by the Separation Wall. Their daily lives are dominated by electrified fences, locks and a constant swarm of armed soldiers. Through a sensitive lens we discover the private world of all eight members of the family.
Location: Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Although he first bought a camera to film his the birth of his son, Emad Burnat begins to pay more attention to the chaotic scenes taking place in the beautiful landscape outside his house.
Time: 19:00
Location: Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft Bristol, Avon BS1
“We do not have the luxury of despair, but the steadfast hope that we can make a change for our children and the generations to come that all of us...
Location: Arts Café, 108a Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RU
From West Country to West Bank Palestine Photo-exhibition opens in Bristol in August Five people from Bristol and Wiltshire visited Palestine ( West Bank ) earlier this year. They were...
Time: 19:30
Location: Watershed
David Goldberg This is Not the Way: Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel Watershed, Bristol 24 April 2012 19.30-20.30 £7.00/ £6.00 Few subjects invoke such passion as the history...
Time: 14:00
Location: Watershed
Palestine Now Bidisha and Selma Dabbagh Watershed, 19 May 2012, 14.00-15.00 Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian writer whose novel, Out of It, is a gripping tale of dispossession and...
Time: 18:00
Location: St George’s Bristol
John McCarthy You Can’t Hide the Sun: A Journey Through Palestine St George’s Bristol 15 May 2012, 18.00-19.00 Fascinated as a young boy by his father’s tales of Palestine, John...
The 2012 London Palestine Film Festival will open at the Barbican Cinema on Friday April 20th, and continue for two weeks at the Barbican and at SOAS and UCL venues...
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed
A beautifully crafted stop motion animation filmed by Jordanian film maker Tariq Rimawi. Missing opens a window into the effects of conflict on children, and the search for peace in the face of adversity.
Time: 15:00
Location: Watershed
Eid is a Palestinian Bedouin living under Israeli occupation. Ever since he can remember, Eid has picked up scrap materials and turned them into art. By following Eid's creative process, this film celebrates the optimism and integrity which enables him to transform the machinery of occupation into an artistic expression of individuality and hope.
Time: 19:45
Location: Arnolfini
Visually captivating and politically bold, this enticing new film by acclaimed filmmaker Eyal Sivan weaves a rich tapestry of stunning archival material and striking interviews to explore the entwined visual and political history of the Jaffa Orange
Time: 18:00
Location: Watershed
‘Hassan Everywhere’ a moving tale of two young artists who share a vivid connection to their respective birthplaces Israel and Palestine and who’s passionate friendship, impossible at home, flourished abroad.
Location: Hamilton House
