People of the Land explores the connection the Palestinian people have to land and nature.&nbsp;This collection of short films delves into the ways that occupation affects the environment. Often the actions of an oppressor lead to the destruction of nature, misuse of the land and the limitation of native people's access to the land that they have been stewards of for generations. The films not only highlight this in Palestine but also connect this struggle to that of other indigenous communities. Additionally, the films explore the continued connection Palestinian people have to nature, even when they have been forced to leave or are born in the diaspora. Fruit, herbs, trees and even soil hold on to beloved memories and the rich history of their homeland. This program is presented in partnership with <a href="https://stormstud.io/" target="_blank">Storm Studio</a>.<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/2ccb896b22aa40f219eb5b89a81ece45.png" width="103" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">

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. Filmmaker bio: <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/5275995493a6edd2265e37240da516c4.jpg" width="123" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Alaa Abu Asad is an artist, researcher, and photographer. His practice is centred around developing and experiencing alternative trajectories where values of (re)presentation, translation, viewing, reading, and understanding intersect.

English

Wild Plants of Palestine

A video essay following observational tours intended to collect photos of and information on the Palestinian Flora.

In 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning, Gazala purchased land in western Ohio, on which sits a disused school building. This site allowed her to explore her complex relationship with “the land.” As the daughter of displaced indigenous Palestinians, she attempts to form a proxy bond with the earth, on ground that was stolen from the displaced indigenous Shawnee people. Closeness to the Land is video footage of hand-painted text signs that translate the word الأرض (ard) into six English words, displayed performatively in multiple locations to capture the now-invisible nature of indigenous culture in Ohio. These signs were installed on the old schoolhouse in early 2021. Filmmaker bio: Mona Gazala is a Palestinian-American artist living in western Ohio. She holds a Masters Degree from the Ohio State University in studio arts with a specialization in city/regional planning. Her practice, which is multi-disciplinary and often socially engaged, explores and exposes dynamics of power and systems of oppression that often manifest in the built environment. This includes what is visible as well as what has been erased in structures, neighborhoods and geographies.Gazala is the recipient of numerous grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Franklinton Arts District, Puffin Foundation West, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Decapital, and the Hishmeh Foundation, to undertake creative work centered on community-building, social justice and activism. &nbsp;

Closeness to the Land

The filmmaker, daughter of displaced indigenous Palestinians, attempts to form a proxy bond with the earth, on ground that was stolen from the displaced indigenous Shawnee people.

Mariam undergoes a journey to find strength within herself through her culture and heritage, after the loss of her precious paradise. <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/25184ad26a99b39b8f7132d5b0ebff50.png" width="117" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Filmmaker bio: Dana Durr was born in Nazareth. Her work branches out in worlds of film, animation and music. With a Film Studies background, Dana continued to Animation studies seeking to pass on moments of beauty, presence and life, Dana digs deep in her Palestinian heritage and aims to portray that way of life through poetic visual storytelling.

Mariam

A Palestinian girl at one with nature witnesses the destruction of her favorite tree.

Under the shade of a lemon tree, a Palestinian woman, Khaldieh, prepares herself a humble breakfast, remembering her former life and lost homeland with an assemblage of simple elements. She unfolds the trauma of her sudden expulsion from the town she and all her ancestors grew up in. Holding onto a mere key to their home, she shares with us the pain of leaving her house for the last time, which she relates to her constant dreams of return. <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/3ff13686da2f7fec1d3a772876b18a1f.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="128">Filmmaker bio: Noor Al-Asswad is a budding Palestinian filmmaker whose works explore the multidirectional connections between memory, identity, loss, history, home, land, heritage and addressing the feminist issues. She was born and raised in Syria, until she had to leave in 2012 due to the political turmoil. Her raw and earnest style invites the viewer jump through time and perspective. She graduated with a Bachelors in Mass Communication in 2018, Her previous works include Noah (2018) and Samha (2017). Under The Lemon Tree (2020) won Best Director for Short Documentaries in SFAAF The South Film Arts and Academy Festival. Director's Statement: Exile and expulsion are a familiar habitat for me. My&nbsp;birthplace is Damascus, but I bear a Palestinian identity card, I spent my adolescence in Syria, until we were violently uprooted by from the lives we had built for ourselves by the chaos and unrest that rendered the streets of my childhood unrecognizable. My family had to leave everything behind, and start a new in an alien land. There was no land to stand on firmly, only wind blowing beneath the soles of my feet.

Under the Lemon Tree

An exiled Palestinian woman sits under a lemon tree building her own Palestine in Qatar recalling her memories that take her back to her homeland.

Something from there is a short film on the substance of our original lands. How does connection to land change after uprooting and in diaspora? How does matter embody memories and defy official histories? These are some of the open-ended questions asked in this reflection on the complicated implications of wanting a piece of land after displacement. Weaving between the voices of the artist’s parents, one a refugee and the other not, the film is personal, yet evokes a shared Palestinian experience. A fragmented story of the artist’s father’s exile from Palestine in 1948 is the guiding narrative. As he explains, he has not returned since—but for a single day in the sixties. Her mother, on the other hand, grew up in and has lived in Palestine for much of her life (her contribution to the film was recorded over Zoom while she sat on a patio in her hometown). Although her story is not the focus, it becomes clear that she is able to return and collect the “something from there” referred to. The “something” is never named, though it is the center of the narrative. Is it the soil? A piece of the land? The remains of our ancestors? The distinction between land and body is not made, and rather Something from there focuses on the power of memory and symbol to revive a denied homeland, defy official histories, and counter the settler colonial impetus to erase any assertion of Indigenous life. <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/42e3c053ea792f7c3dab397d15a35c2d.png" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="176">﻿Filmmaker bio: Rana Nazzal Hamadeh is a Palestinian-Canadian artist. Her photography film, and installation works look at issues related to time, space, land, and movement, offering interventions rooted in a decolonial framework and using memory and story to engage intimately with broad concepts. Her practice is deeply informed by the knowledge emerging from grassroots movements for justice, both in occupied Palestine and across Turtle Island. Rana holds an MFA in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University and is based between occupied Ramallah and Ottawa on unceded Anishinaabe territory.

Something from there

A short film on the substance of our original lands. Weaving between the voices of the artist’s parents, one a refugee and the other not, the film is personal, yet evokes a shared Palestinian experience.

People of the Land

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This platform is your home for virtual screenings and special events, such as old favorites from the Arab Film Festival. At present, this platform will host a curation of Palestinian Stories as a resource of information and context on the situation currently unfolding in Palestine.

At AFMI we seek to continually change the narrative, share our stories, and foster understanding of our common humanity through art and storytelling. In this dire time, we want to share a selection of films that showcase the history, culture and people of Palestine.

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.