Reel Palestine / 6th Edition / 2020
Held January 17th-25th, in partnership and hosted in the UAE’s only art house cinema, Cinema Akil,  we shared our genuine love and deep passion for storytelling, by gathering the Dubai community around film, sessions with inspiring filmmakers and our annual Reel Palestine Souk, an artisanal market to dive and immerse into unique experiences through crafts and arts. Thank you to everyone who supported and contributed to make Reel Palestine's 6th edition a success. 

2020 Festival Films

It Must Be Heaven

​Directed by: Elia Suleiman 
2019 | PG | Comedy | 97’
French, Arabic, English and Spanish

Elia Suleiman escapes from Palestine seeking an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him. The promise of a new life turns into a comedy of errors: however far he travels, from Paris to New York, something always reminds him of home. From award-winning director Elia Suleiman, a comic saga exploring identity, nationality and belonging, in which Suleiman asks the fundamental question: where is the place we can truly call home?

The Journey of the Others ​

​Directed by: Jaime Villarreal
2019 | PG | Documentary | 74’
Arabic & English (English & Arabic Subtitles)

At the Freedom Theater in Jenin refugee camp, the next Palestinian Intifada is brewing. In every corner of the Freedom Theater you can breathe the idea of "Cultural Resistance". In the main hall of the Freedom Theater, a group of brave actors rehearse a play, risking their lives in order to fulfill a dream they are not willing to abandon: to premiere this play on the stage of the theater of the University of New York. A little further on, more than 20 children fill the theater workshop during their vacation. Together, they forget the wounds of the occupation for a few hours. There, their most painful stories make way to their dreams of freedom, to the desire to express themselves, to their need to play.

Soufra

Directed by: Thomas A. Morgan
2017 | PG | Documentary |  73’
​Arabic with English subtitles

Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burj El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out to change her fate by launching a catering company, “Soufra,” and then expand it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee woman who now share this camp as their home. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food while taking their future into their own hands through an unrelenting belief in Mariam, and in each other. 

Ibrahim, a Fate to Define

Directed by: Lina Al Abed
2019 | PG | Documentary | 75'
Arabic (English Subtitles)

Ibrahim: A Fate to Define is a personal documentary, following the director’s quest to define her identity by tracing the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of her father, Ibrahim. In this provocative and personal documentary, director Lina Al Abed searches for traces of her disappeared father: a seemingly ordinary Palestinian family man who was actually a secret member of a militant splinter faction and vanished when she was just a child. 

You Come From Far Away 

Directed by: Amal Ramsis
2018 | PG | Documentary | | 84’
Arabic and Russian (English subtitles)

Imagine that you have siblings but you can’t talk to them because you don’t speak the same language. Imagine that you have parents but you were raised without them. The film tells the extraordinary story of a Palestinian family which was dispersed by several turmoils that steer the last century: From the Spanish Civil War in which the father Najati Sidki fought against Franco and fascism to World War II, Nakba and Lebanese Civil War.

On The Door Steps

Directed by: Sahera Dirbas
2019| PG | Documentary | 47’
English and Arabic (English Subtitles)

A documentary that shows how three generations of Palestinian in U.S from Bisharat family, have maintained their emotional attachment to their home in West Jerusalem, taken over by Israelis in 1948. Among them a Valerie 21-year-old, who traveled across the world to visit her grandfather’s house to find out the truth she inherited about the house and managed to meet face to face the current Gisele Arazi, a 96-year-old Israeli occupant.
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Selfie Zein 

Directed by: Amira Diab
2019 | PG | Feature | 11’
Arabic, English, Hebrew (English Subs) 

Selfie Zein explores the disruptive world of Zein, a young Palestinian woman from Bethlehem, who is determined to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem after Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Her destination is only 8.8 KM from her home town, but the obstacles are endless. The separation wall, checkpoints, and the nature of trying to live as a free woman in this world, all become barriers Zein must pass through. The disruptive journey forces Zein to use her creativity in order to transform herself, altering her one and only outfit into interestingly different looks in order to overcome each obstacle ahead. 

Western Arabs

Directed by: Omar Shargawi
2019 | PG | Feature | 81'​
Danish, English & Arabic (English subs)

Western Arabs is a historical and personal story, based on the director’s own experience, family, friends and acquaintances. We follow them and depict different situations throughout their lives – the sad, the vile, the emotional and the comical. A universal story of a family that has arisen from a simultaneously beautiful and tragic cultural encounter; as is the case in hundreds of thousands of families around Europe and the rest of the Western World.

Gaza

Directed by: Andrew McConnell & Garry Keane 
2018| PG| Documentary Feature| 92’ Arabic (English subtitles)

Frequently labeled as the world’s largest open-air prison, it makes an appearance on news reports every time a confrontation erupts between Israel and Hamas. From TV sets thousands of miles away, this tiny piece of land has been reduced to an image of violence, chaos and destruction.
Gaza will introduce the audience to the surprising and the unexpected, the unfamiliar stories that portray its true face. It takes an atypical approach to finding out what makes this remarkable place tick as it introduces to the world extraordinary stories of everyday characters leading ordinary lives. 

Hurdle

Directed by: Michael Rowley
2019 | PG| Documentary Feature | 87’ Arabic (English subtitles)

As the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories approached its 50th year, Hurdle reveals an important and intimate story emerging from the hearts and actions of Palestinian youth. The new generation responds to a world of walls, checkpoints and arrests in an unexpected and inspiring way. Hurdle ’s protagonists, Sami and Mohammad, begin teaching the creative practices of parkour and photography, respectively, to the youth of their communities as a means to overcome the personal and political obstacles that often feel inescapable. 

Ambience

Directed by: Wisam Al Jafri 
2019 | PG | Feature | 15’
Arabic (English subtitles)

Despite the noise and chaos of the refugee camp, two young Palestinian refugees discover a creative way to record music in order to meet a competition deadline.

Maradona's Leg

Directed by: Firas Khoury
2019 | PG | Comedy Feature | 23’
Arabic with English subtitles

In a Palestinian village during the Football World Championship 1990, the young brothers Rafat and Fadel are searching for “Maradona’s legs” - their World Cup album’s last missing sticker. Will they master the obstacles and accomplish their mission?

Made In Palestine

Directed by: Mariam Dwedar
2019 | PG 12 | Documentary | 8’
Arabic (English subtitles)

Hirbawi Textiles is the last remaining factory in Palestine that produces the iconic Palestinian scarf known as the Kuffiyeh.

Coffee Pot

Dir: Thaer Al Azzah
2018 | PG | Feature | 9’ | Arabic (English subtitles)

Jomu’a is a Palestinian who lives in a refugee camp. Every early morning, he goes to the entrance of the refugee camp to earn his living selling coffee. He tries to find additional work but the only one available is to demolish a house before the occupation demolishing it and charges the owner for the expenses.

Strange Cities are Familiar

Dir: Saeed Taji Farouky
2018 | PG | Feature | 20’
Arabic and English (English subtitles) 

Strange Cities Are Familiar is a film about memories, guilt and resilience. Inspired by the writing of Mourid Barghouti and the director's personal and family experiences, it tells the story of Ashraf, a Palestinian father living in the UK, struggling to confront the memories that haunt him: the promises he couldn’t keep; the family he couldn’t protect.

Him and I

Dir: Ibrahim Handal
2018 | PG | Feature | 13’
Arabic (English subtitles)

A young woman in her mid-thirties lives an ordinary life between her work and home. Viewers discover, however, that she is living in a fantasy world, which she created in order to help tolerate her destiny.

The Pipe      ​

Directed by: Sami Zarour
2018 | PG | Feature | 10’
Arabic (English subtitles)

Haunting isolation and the need for a connection blur the lines of reality, and leave him in between two states. But as he loses control, his identity gets clearer and his prison turns out to be of his own making.
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The Pipe explores the concept of imprisonment, and what it really means to take away someone’s freedom. It’s an experience of solitary prison that goes beyond the walls of a cell, for a prisoner is not always the one confined by walls.

Wild Plants of Palestine

Directed by: Alaa Abu Asad
2018| PG | Documentary | 10'
English

Wild Plants of Palestine follows journeys of observational tours solicited by the Palestinian Museum and conducted by two professors from Birzeit University to collect photos of and information on the Palestinian Flora. The title is adapted from a collection of 123 images (circa 1900 to 1920) of wild flowers in Palestine found in the Matson Collection in the Library of Congress. Despite the tendency to trace the wild plants, the text in general aims at questioning the territorial extension of what is meant by the term “Palestinian”, while standing on insignificant topographical features of the (postcolonial) landscape in West Bank. Furthermore, it addresses photography as a practice and a tool of distributing and restricting information at once.

Check out the highlights of the Reel Palestine 2020 Festival

2020 Festival Events 

Talk with HIFF Co-founder

​Haifa Independent Film Festival (HIFF) Co- founder, Lena Mansour spoke about independent cultural film production as well as creating an independent  cultural autonomy in Haifa. Audience members had a rare opportunity to engage and ask questions to Lena who has deep experience in working in culture and social  projects.

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Reel Palestine Souk

Reel Palestine's Souk featured a curated collection of unique crafts, souvenirs and flavors made and inspired by Palestinian traditions. Thank you to our partner vendors: Exhale. Thob. Ayadi by Widad. Harakat. Mooneh. Badira Gifts & Favors. Pearl Tree. Kan Yama Kan in Palestine. Rimal Books. Mona Kayali. Nasij. Meera Adnan. Qamha.​

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Breakfast with Dima Sharif

​In partnership with Kave People, Reel Palestine hosted a communal Palestinian breakfast with multi award winning food artisan and author, Dima Sharif. Participants were immersed in Palestinian stories and culture over a three course breakfast while Dima shared insights into Palestinian cuisine and stories.

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2020 Festival Collaborations

American University of Sharjah

Reel Palestine partnered with the 2019 class of the College of Architecture, Arts and Design (CAAD) at the American University of Sharjah. Students spent the semester working on a full design campaign for the festival.  All works were then exhibited during the festival in Alserkal Avenue. 

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Visualizing Palestine

Visualizing Palestine is the first portfolio of Visualizing Impact (VI) an independent, non-profit laboratory for innovation at the intersection of data science, technology, and design. VP's works were displayed during the festival and its founders were available to discuss their creative and data process with attendees. 

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Ya Hala Studio

Reel Palestine collaborated with Ya Hala Studio, by Camil Karam, to display his private and unique archive collection of vintage posters on Palestinian narratives dating from the early 1930’s up to today. His collection was exhibited during the festival in Cinema Akil. 

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