Palestinian Filmmakers: Preserving Culture Through Cinema

Palestine has 3,000 years of recorded history and was formerly known as Canaan. “Palestine had a people. They were active, productive, intelligent, intellectual, and creative.” “The old city is surrounded by a high winding wall, built by Solomon the Magnificent. Outside the wall, the city is surprisingly modern.”

Just over a decade later, in 1908, the first Palestinian movie theatre, the “Cinematographe Oracle,” was established in Jerusalem and began showing films on Saturday and Sunday nights. The first Palestinian film is generally considered to be a 20-minute silent documentary on His Majesty King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia's visit to Palestine in 1935, made by Ibrahim Hassan Sirhan, based in Jaffa. Mustafa Abu Ali is considered one of the founders of Palestinian cinema. In 1973, he created the Palestinian Cinema Association in Beirut. Another pioneer of Palestinian cinema is the independent filmmaker from Nazareth, Michel Khleifi.

Filmmaker Rashid Masharawi grew up in a Shati refugee camp on the Gaza strip. One of the most notable female Palestinian filmmakers is Annemarie Jacir. Najwa Najjar is another influential female film writer and director in Palestinian film. Emad Burnat is the first Palestinian nominated for the Oscar Award for Best Documentary Feature. Nazareth born Palestinian- Dutch film director Hany Abu-Assad has received two Oscar Award nominations, including his 2013 film, “Omar.” Elia Suleiman is a Palestinian film director and actor of Greek Orthodox origin.

A growing number of international Palestinian film festivals are held around the world to showcase Palestinian films to international audiences. The largest Palestinian Film Festival is Palestine Cinema Days.