Twin Cities Arab Film Festival 2023

R 21 aka Restoring Solidarity & Tokyo Reels

Expired October 2, 2023 5:00 AM
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From the 1960s to the 1980s, many radical left-wing movements across the globe aligned with the growing struggle for Palestinian self-determination, and these movements inspired filmmakers in Europe, Japan, and the SWANA region. Recently, a cache of 20 films made in this era were discovered in Tokyo and dubbed the "Tokyo Reels." R 21 is the 21st reel, and in it, filmmaker Mohannad Yacoubi and his team edit together various scenes from this incredibly diverse archive, which detail and engage with different aspects of the Palestinian liberation struggle. In addition to R 21's overview and detailed account of the restoration process, this film segment includes three of our favorite films from the Tokyo Reels collection.

Produced by the Iraqi Cinema and Theatre Institute, this short fiction film was made as a melody for resistance. With no dialogue, and no character to follow their story, the film addresses the question of Palestine through a story of a farmer and his family, who were forced to stop plowing their land because of the sudden arrival of Israeli army vehicles. This film was recovered as a part of a cache of archival films about various aspects of the Palestinian liberation movements that were found in Tokyo and therefore dubbed the “Tokyo Reels.”

  • Year
    1977
  • Runtime
    11 minutes
  • Language
    No dialogue
  • Country
    Palestine, Iraq, Japan
  • Director
    Sabih Al-Zoohiri