JEDDAH: Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine 36,” which screened at this month’s Red Sea International Film Festival, is more than a historical drama. The film — Palestine’s official entry to the Oscars this year — is a deep exploration of resistance, resilience and the struggle of the Palestinian people.
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Jacir — who lived in Saudi Arabia until the age of 16 — recalls the spark for the film: the discovery of archival photographs of British checkpoints where Palestinian men and women were systematically searched, a scene that felt hauntingly familiar.
“My grandparents were searched at checkpoints. My parents were searched at checkpoints. I am searched at checkpoints. My child is now searched at checkpoints,” she told Arab News. “The events of the film are from almost a century ago but it is still so incredibly relevant to my daily life in Palestine. Somehow, it was erased from the narrative that the British were in Palestine — a lot of people don’t know that — and they really set up the system of occupation that I deal with today on a regular basis.”
Jacir on the set of 'Palestine 36' with Jeremy Irons. (Supplied)
