The Bristol Palestine Film Festival is back in 2023 with a diverse lineup of the very best in contemporary Palestinian cinema, arts and culture. This year’s festival takes place 2-10 December across four independent venues across the city, with a lineup of seven feature-length films and two shorts evenings, showcasing the rich variety of stories from Palestine and the region. And for the first time we are hosting an evening of live spoken word with popular local poetry night Raise the Bar.
We acknowledge the difficult circumstances of this year’s events in Israel and Palestine, and we remain committed to our founding aim of showcasing Palestinian cinema and culture. We hope that this year’s festival will provide a space for commemoration, reflection and discussion, and we believe in giving a platform for Palestinian stories, culture and traditions. We are proud to be hosting four Directors’ Q&A sessions with award-winning film directors in our programme, and two expert panel discussions.
The festival opens on 2nd December with the hit feature film Farha and an evening of live poetry, spoken word and discussion. Over the next eight days we’re showing a diverse programme of award-winning films at Watershed, The Cube, and the Palestine Museum and Cultural Centre, including two country selections for Best International Film at the Oscars. Expect an eye-opening mix of contemporary perspectives from the region with interwoven themes of loss and memory, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 1948 nakba, when Palestinian land was occupied and dispossessed.
All events will include a merch stand with £5 Tote bags, Palestinian items and stocking fillers. All profits will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
Time: 12:30
Location: Stoke Gifford Community Hall, BS34 6HR
A special event for the Palestinian community and Arabic speakers.
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: 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: 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 - 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
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 - 20:10
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: 18:00 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 20:15 - 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?
