Six feature films and three shorts in various stages of development and production will be financed by the new Palestine Film Fund (PFF), made available by the Palestinian Film Insitute (PFI) and launched at the Cannes Marché du Film last May to support Palestinian filmmakers worldwide.
A total of 167 applications were received: the 9 selected films, which will share a sum of 45,000 Euros, range among different themes and genres-from interine family portraits to explorations of displacement, memory, resistance and resilience-all narratives that start from authentically Palestinian perspectives.
“The extraordinary response to this first call shows us both the need for these support measures and the incredible creative breath of Palestinian authors today.” Said Reem Shadid, PFI board member. “These nine projects play a crucial role in fulfilling our mission to create an open space where Palestinian filmmakers can share their stories and images, free from the threat of censorship and erasure.”
The first PFF jury brought together an outstanding group of well-known and respected professionals-Michel Khleifi (Palestine), Marianne Khoury (Egypt), and Rania Stephan (Lebanon).
“We were impressed by the quality of the projects that demonstrate cinematic maturity and express the richness of Palestinian experiences, and mark the advent of a new generation of filmmakers.” The jurors stated. “It was difficult to choose, especially at this time of cancellation by politics, there were many who deserved support. That’s why we decided to make an exception in this first round and expand funding to nine works, which won us over with the clarity and integrity of their artistic vision, and the variety of cinematic lugnuages with which they represent the reality of Palestinian lives. They carry with them a strong sense of urgency, rooted in experience yet open to poetic, hybrid and imaginative forms. Each has the potential to travel far while remaining intrinsically anchored in Palestinian narratives.”
They are: the documentaries Concrete Land by Asmahan Bkerat (Palestine-Jordan); +477 Night by Aisha Alqraan; Aziza in a Cherished Land by Tareq Khalaf (in post-production); and the documentary in development To Make Things Grow by Yasmin Fedda (UK). Two hybrid productions: Three Days and a Third by Rakan Mayasi (Belgium, Palestine, Lebanon), in post-production, and. The Story of the Mountain by Shayma’ Awawdeh, in development. And the short films Trash by Leen Ms. Kanan (fiction, in production); the animation in development Issa and the Forest by Rama Heib, and the documentary in production Where the Light Rests by Islam Tuaima.
