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.
The Road to Palestine (1983)
Produced by the Palestinian Liberation Organization
An animated short film for children. The film is based on the testimony of the girl Laila, who lives in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Layaly Badr is a Jordanian with Palestinian roots. She started working as a children’s story writer, before studying film-making in Germany and screenwriting in the New York Film Academy. She has two published books: ‘Lobana Wal Qamar’ and ‘Nahr Wa Shajara’. Badr haswon several awards for her films and television work. Her films are distinguished musicals, combining live action with animation. Her short movie “The Way To Palestine” won The Golden Lorbeer from the German TV, the best complete piece of work for children at the Arab TV Festival in Tunisia, the Pioneer Prize at the Damascus TV festival, and received a Special Mention at the Isphahan Children Film Festival. Badr was the head of ART Children's Channel, then moved into the cinema industry as a producer and distributor. She worked as a managing director in the two biggest networks in the Middle East: ART and Rotana. She has also worked as a consultant for two of Egyptian networks: Al Nahar and ON TV. Currently she works as a freelancer. (Courtesy Another Gaze Journal - Another Screen)
- Year1983
- Runtime7 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryPalestine
- DirectorLayaly Badr
- ScreenwriterLayaly Badr
- ProducerPalestinian Liberation Organization
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.
The Road to Palestine (1983)
Produced by the Palestinian Liberation Organization
An animated short film for children. The film is based on the testimony of the girl Laila, who lives in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Layaly Badr is a Jordanian with Palestinian roots. She started working as a children’s story writer, before studying film-making in Germany and screenwriting in the New York Film Academy. She has two published books: ‘Lobana Wal Qamar’ and ‘Nahr Wa Shajara’. Badr haswon several awards for her films and television work. Her films are distinguished musicals, combining live action with animation. Her short movie “The Way To Palestine” won The Golden Lorbeer from the German TV, the best complete piece of work for children at the Arab TV Festival in Tunisia, the Pioneer Prize at the Damascus TV festival, and received a Special Mention at the Isphahan Children Film Festival. Badr was the head of ART Children's Channel, then moved into the cinema industry as a producer and distributor. She worked as a managing director in the two biggest networks in the Middle East: ART and Rotana. She has also worked as a consultant for two of Egyptian networks: Al Nahar and ON TV. Currently she works as a freelancer. (Courtesy Another Gaze Journal - Another Screen)
- Year1983
- Runtime7 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryPalestine
- DirectorLayaly Badr
- ScreenwriterLayaly Badr
- ProducerPalestinian Liberation Organization