Archives, often perceived as impartial guardians of history, are actually deeply entwined with political agendas. In the context of the Palestinian struggle, archives have been systematically pillaged and obliterated by the Israeli state and military, resulting in the loss of invaluable records of Palestinian history and resistance. Among the missing archives are decades of footage by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Palestine Film Unit (PFU). This collective of militant filmmakers emerged in the late 1960s, utilizing the camera as a tool of resistance to document the Palestinian experience and the struggle for liberation.
The film program features documentaries about the Palestinian film archive and filmic legacy – Azza El-Hassan’s KINGS AND EXTRAS: DIGGING FOR A PALESTINIAN IMAGE (2004), Mohanad Yaqubi’s OFF FRAME (aka REVOLUTION UNTIL VICTORY) (2016)– as well as a selection of earlier films created during the revolutionary Palestinian film era, which have recently been restored as part of El-Hassan’s invaluable initiative, The Void Project, which was founded in 2018 to explore the presence and absence of the Palestinian visual archives as a discourse in narrative formation, and to restore and distribute some of the surviving films of the era.
ARCHIVES OF POWER ultimately strives to amplify the voices and stories that have been marginalized and suppressed, reclaiming agency and autonomy in defiance of ongoing attempts to erase Palestinian history and visual narrative. This program serves as an indispensable platform for comprehending and challenging the mechanisms of oppression and resistance within the domain of archival representation.
Kings and Extras: Digging for a Palestinian Image (2004)
Azza el Hassan uses rare 1970s and 1980s archival footage of the Palestinian national movement and a series of contemporary interviews with filmmakers, archivists and historians to explore the role of filmmaking and photography during this period. At the heart of the film is her search for answers as to the apparently mysterious 'loss' of the central Palestinian cinema archive in Beirut during the Israeli occupation.
Azza El-Hassan is a filmmaker and winner of international film awards such as, The ALEPH DOCUMENTARY AWARD, LUCHINO VISCONTI AWARD, JAZEERA JURY AWARD and the prestigious GRIERSON AWARD. Her work usually centers around narratives in the middle East with a special focus on the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
Azza has a special interest in the use of visual archive, in films by nations who’s archive, has been destroyed or abducted. In 2019, she founded THE VOID PROJECT, a multi media art project, that aims to restore archival films, curate exhibitions and produce narratives that centres around archive and the effect of their abduction on narratives.
- Year2004
- Runtime62 minutes
- CountryPalestine
- DirectorAzza El-Hassan
Archives, often perceived as impartial guardians of history, are actually deeply entwined with political agendas. In the context of the Palestinian struggle, archives have been systematically pillaged and obliterated by the Israeli state and military, resulting in the loss of invaluable records of Palestinian history and resistance. Among the missing archives are decades of footage by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Palestine Film Unit (PFU). This collective of militant filmmakers emerged in the late 1960s, utilizing the camera as a tool of resistance to document the Palestinian experience and the struggle for liberation.
The film program features documentaries about the Palestinian film archive and filmic legacy – Azza El-Hassan’s KINGS AND EXTRAS: DIGGING FOR A PALESTINIAN IMAGE (2004), Mohanad Yaqubi’s OFF FRAME (aka REVOLUTION UNTIL VICTORY) (2016)– as well as a selection of earlier films created during the revolutionary Palestinian film era, which have recently been restored as part of El-Hassan’s invaluable initiative, The Void Project, which was founded in 2018 to explore the presence and absence of the Palestinian visual archives as a discourse in narrative formation, and to restore and distribute some of the surviving films of the era.
ARCHIVES OF POWER ultimately strives to amplify the voices and stories that have been marginalized and suppressed, reclaiming agency and autonomy in defiance of ongoing attempts to erase Palestinian history and visual narrative. This program serves as an indispensable platform for comprehending and challenging the mechanisms of oppression and resistance within the domain of archival representation.
Kings and Extras: Digging for a Palestinian Image (2004)
Azza el Hassan uses rare 1970s and 1980s archival footage of the Palestinian national movement and a series of contemporary interviews with filmmakers, archivists and historians to explore the role of filmmaking and photography during this period. At the heart of the film is her search for answers as to the apparently mysterious 'loss' of the central Palestinian cinema archive in Beirut during the Israeli occupation.
Azza El-Hassan is a filmmaker and winner of international film awards such as, The ALEPH DOCUMENTARY AWARD, LUCHINO VISCONTI AWARD, JAZEERA JURY AWARD and the prestigious GRIERSON AWARD. Her work usually centers around narratives in the middle East with a special focus on the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
Azza has a special interest in the use of visual archive, in films by nations who’s archive, has been destroyed or abducted. In 2019, she founded THE VOID PROJECT, a multi media art project, that aims to restore archival films, curate exhibitions and produce narratives that centres around archive and the effect of their abduction on narratives.
- Year2004
- Runtime62 minutes
- CountryPalestine
- DirectorAzza El-Hassan