The filmmakers of the Palestine Film Institute, PFI, which are the creators of these films, perceived their cinema to be different in its form and content to that which was being made in the West. Through the institute, they wanted to create films that changed the world and challenge Western concepts. Many filmmakers and artists from around the world joined the PFI, to participate in the creation of an alternative narrative, among them was Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Genet and many others. As a filmmaker myself, I find this fascinating, and I want to share its beauty with you. I chose The Fifth War (1978), because it embodies the effort and work of artists from around the world to retell the Palestinian narrative. It is a film that was codirected by Samir Nimer, an Iraqi filmmaker, and Monica Maurer, a German filmmaker. The film also stars British actress Vanessa Redgrave.
All the films that I have chosen have been made with the Western audience in mind, where the filmmakers engages with the role of introducing the audience to what has happened to Palestine and the Palestinians, and tell them what the Palestinian movement is doing to challenge the injustice that has been inflicted on it’s people.
Two of the films, The Urgent Call for Palestine (1973) and Glows of Memories (1975), are by the prominent Palestinian painter Ismael Shamout. These films are his only attempt to use a different medium to work through his art concepts. His art work, which usually focused on depicting Palestinian life prior to expulsion and the aftermath of the expulsion, is presented in Glows of Memories as intercuts to the actual real life events which led to the creation of the art pieces; making the viewer constantly aware of the connection between art and human real life events. Driven by strong political convictions, Shammout makes a call in The Urgent Call of Palestine, to fellow Jews urging them to not be led by colonial intervention in the region.
The last film in the collection, The Road to Palestine (1985) by Layali Bader, stands out from the rest, as it is a children’s animation film. I chose this beautiful short film, not only because it is probably the Institute’s first attempt to make an animation film, but because it is probably one of the last films that were made by the PFI. Bader was sent to the GDR to learn and make an animation film, while she was in Germany, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon and looted the PFI archives. That was in 1982, and it wasn’t until 1985 that Bader on her own managed to finish the film and release it. —Azza El Hassan
The Fifth War
Fronted by Vanessa Redgrave and narrated entirely in English, The Fifth War gives a visceral account of the 1978 ‘Litani Operation’, in which Israeli forces invaded south Lebanon aiming to eradicate the PLO.
The Urgent Call of Palestine
In this short film, Shammout records a solidarity song by the Palestinian Egyptian singer Zeinab Shaath announcing the urgent call of Palestine. The song is punctuated by the words of poet Kamal Nasser, which continue to hold striking relevance today. —Jemma Desai
Glows of Memories
Ismail Shammout, a Palestinian painter, also served as director of the Cultural Arts Section of the PLO and worked with the organization’s Film Unit in the 1970s. In this one of his few film works he unravels the memories within his painting Memories and Fire.
Road to Palestine
Seven-year-old Layla lives in a refugee camp outside Palestine. Her father was killed and she was badly injured from an air raid. We share the life of Layla and her friends, who tell us how they imagine Palestine despite them having never seen it. —Jemma Desai