Palestinian Film Festival - Amsterdam Rialto
Four days with Palestinian shorts, dramas, animations and documentaries.
The PFFA was founded in 2015, to celebrate classical and contemporary Palestinian cinema by both accomplished and emerging directors. It began in protest at the exclusion of indigenous directors from various film programs, and the resultant restriction of their cinematographic storytelling and distinctive narratives.
From 12 to 15 May 2023, the third PFFA edition will be hosted by Rialto De Pijp. This event commemorates 75 years of Al Nakba, the 1948 mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homeland. The “Catastrophe” has determined the Palestinians’ fate, and defined their collective identity, to this day.
The festival will kick off on Friday 12 May with Jumana Manna’s awarded documentary Foragers which recently premiered at IDFA, a mix of documentary and fiction that depicts with a wry sense of humour the dramas between the Israeli Nature Protection Authority and Palestinian foragers.
The programme will also feature a Mother’s Day special on Sunday 14 May, highlighting films with strong female themes. Guest director Alia Yunis will screen and attend a Q&A with her nominated documentary The Golden Harvest, a 6,000-year old love story in which the filmmaker tries to understand the profound, often troubled, relationship between olive trees and the people of Mediterranean.
Monday 15 May coincides with Nakba Day and Rialto’s Expat Cinema, concluding the third PFFA with Najwa Najjar’s drama feature Between Heaven & Earth. About Salma and Tamer have been married for five years in the Palestinian Territories. The first time Tamer is given permission to cross the Israeli checkpoint is to file for divorce. In court, they make a shocking discovery about his father’s past.
7 other films during PFFA
Roshmia: about an elderly Palestinian couple and their final standoff against Israeli authorities to maintain their natural lifestyle in the last natural valley in Haifa.
The Tower: a young Palestinian girl in a Lebanese refugee camp embraces her grandfather’s legacy through restoring collective memories, with hope of him one day returning to his homeland.
The Stranger: an unlicensed doctor, living in a small village in the occupied Golan Heights, is going through an existential crisis and encounters a wounded soldier from the war in Syria.
Gaza mon amour: Issa, an old fisherman, is in love with Siham, a woman who works at the market. One day, he finds an ancient statue of Apollo in his fishing nets and decides to approach her with the discovery.
Mussolini’s Sister: the amusingly cynical Hiam has every reason to despise the world as experienced today. Despite the banality of growing old, she manages to rule over her entire world from a cctv and daily meals she cooks for her 55-year old son.
Stitching Palestine: twelve distinctive Palestinian women from different corners of the world stitch together the story of their homeland, connecting their narratives through the ancient art of embroidery
Emwas: Restoring Memories: personal film that follows the journey of the director, Dima Abu Ghoush, as she rebuilds her demolished hometown in the form of a maquette from its people’s memories.
More info on:
www.rialtofilm.nl