Dhafer L’Abidine and Yasmine Al Massri in a still from ‘Palestine 36’ courtesy of Philistine Films
Why, you ask? Because if we are ever to understand the Palestinian/Israeli issues of the present, we need to go back nearly a century and wrap our heads around the crimes, struggles and mistakes of the past.
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Saleh Bakri in a still from Farah Nabulsi's 'The Teacher'
At the core of the Oscar-nominated filmmaker’s first feature is a clear understanding of the power of the perpetually perpetrated injustice on the Palestinian people.
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Freida Pinto and Hiam Abbass in a scene from ‘Miral’
While festivals throughout the Region, and beyond, senselessly cancel their latest edition “in support” of the Palestinian cause, the best thing they could do would be to finally showcase cinema from Palestinian and Israeli auteurs, as well as one American filmmaker, who can collectively help explains the situation and smother the fire of warmongers with culture and education.
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At the start of ‘Backstage’, the first feature directorial collaboration between Moroccan filmmaker Khalil Benkirane and Tunisian star Afef Ben Mahmoud, the unthinkable happens. And we, the audience, are along for the ride of a lifetime.
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It may be a Netflix world and we’re just living in it, as the streaming giant is hot on the Lido this year with Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’, Pablo Larrain’s vampire dictator romp and Wes Anderson’s latest — but there are a couple of indie titles that you need to watch.
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The discovery of Farah Nabulsi’s stunning, honest and beautiful film ‘The Present’ I owe to Palestinian favorite actor Saleh Bakri. I mean, as soon as I saw his name on the Brooklyn Film Festival line-up page, I was hooked. But while his presence is undeniably a wonderful pull into the film, Nabulsi’s perfect oeuvre stands on its own.
The title ‘The Present’ could refer to a gift, the one Yusuf, Bakri’s character goes to buy for his wife on their wedding anniversary. But it also means, to me, the current state of affairs, the here and now, for the Palestinian people.
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