Bristol Palestine Film Festival will take place 4-12 December 2021. We will be screening a mix of shorts, feature films and documentaries in independent venues such as Watershed, The Cube, and The Bristol Palestine Museum. As well as the film screenings, we are delighted to have a play in our festival line-up for the first time: The Shroud Maker, written and directed by Ahmed Masoud, our BPFF 2019 writer in residence. We are excited to be back in cinemas again and hope you will join us for another year of powerful Palestinian stories on film.
Showing on Sunday 12 December at 5.20pm, Watershed
Najwa Najjar will be joining us for a virtual Q&A after the screening of Between Heaven and Earth at Watershed on Sunday 12 December. Najwa is a Palestinian-Jordanian screenwriter and director whose films have enjoyed international critical acclaim. Her latest project, Between Heaven and Earth won Best Screenplay at Cairo International Film Festival in 2019 and Feature Film Selection at the European Film Festival in 2020. Her second film, Eyes of a Thief, was Palestine’s official submission to the Oscars and Golden Globes in 2015.
Based on a true story, Between Heaven and Earth 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.
Tickets available here.
A panel discussion on Saturday 4 December at 6pm, 1532 Theatre
We’re hosting a panel discussion on cultural resistance, with the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot and writer and director Ahmed Masoud. The panel discussion will be held before the evening performance of Ahmed’s play The Shroud Maker.
Husam Zomlot was born in a refugee camp in Gaza, and became Palestinian Ambassador to the UK in 2018. He has long been an outspoken opponent of the Israeli occupation and earlier this year spoke passionately on BBC’s Newsnight programme against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in May. Ahmed Masoud was BPFF’s writer in residence in 2019 and has a range of critically acclaimed books, plays and short stories under his writing belt.
A compelling black comedy, The Shroud Maker delves deep into the intimate life of ordinary Palestinians to weave a highly distinctive path through Palestine’s turbulent past and present. Loosely based on a real life character still living in Gaza, this one-woman comedy weaves comic fantasy and satire with true stories told first hand to the writer, and offers a vivid portrait of Palestinian life in Gaza underscored with gallows humour.
The panel discussion will be free to attend. Tickets for the 2.30pm or 7.30pm performances of The Shroud Maker are available to purchase here.
Showing on Saturday 11 December at 5.30pm, Watershed
Ameer Fakher Eldin, director of The Stranger will be with us for a virtual Q&A after the film screening. Ameer is a Syrian screenwriter and director, born in the former Soviet Union in 1991 to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights. His debut film The Stranger premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Edipo Re Award for Best Film and was selected as Palestine’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2022 Oscars. He’s described the film as “a character study of a man who is a stranger in his own community.”
Location: 1532 Performing Arts Centre, Clifton, BS8 1SJ
A play written and directed by Ahmed Masoud Performed by Julia Tarnoky
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.
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: 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: 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: 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: 17:30
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
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: 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: 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: 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.
