Commemorating the Nakba
On May 15, 2018, we observe with heavy hearts the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or Catastrophe. When we remember the Nakba, we remember about 750,000 Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their homes and were later prevented from returning, in order to enable the birth of a Jewish-majority state. The Nakba is a seminal event in Palestinian history, weighs heavily on our collective psyche, and is ongoing as Palestinians continue to be displaced from their homes and homeland to this day.
In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, we have curated a program of films that capture the tragedy of the Nakba and its impact upon the Palestinian people historically and today. All of the films are available to view for free online at the links provided.
The Lost Cities of Palestine
[vc_single_image image=”8432″ img_size=”medium”]Ramez Qazmouz
2011 | Documentary | 70 min
The Lost Cities of Palestine is a detailed chronicle, through interviews and stories, of the orchestrated attempts of ethnic and cultural cleansing of Arab centers such as Jaffa and Haifa, during the Nakba. Made for Al Jazeera in 2011, this film provides a rare opportunity to see Palestine as it was in the 1930s and 1940s and learn about the everyday life and culture of urban Palestine before 1948.
Ismail
[vc_single_image image=”2650″ img_size=”medium”]Nora al-Sharif
2013 | Narrative | 28 min
Inspired by a day in the life of Palestinian painter Ismail Shammout (1930-2006), Ismail tells the compelling story of a young Palestinian struggling to support his parents after their expulsion to a refugee camp in 1948 by the Israeli forces. The opening scene of Ismail presents one of the most realistic depictions of the Nakba, as if we are direct observers ourselves.
The Great Book Robbery
[vc_single_image image=”8434″ img_size=”medium”]Benny Bruner
2012 | Documentary | 57 min
The Great Book Robbery explores the looting of 70,000 Palestinian books during the 1948 war by the newly born state of Israel. The film employs a multifaceted approach to tell a multilayer story: dramatic location filming, eyewitness accounts, archival footage, pictorial material, C.G.I.-computer generated images, documents and culture critiques.
The Sons of Eilaboun
[vc_single_image image=”8435″ img_size=”medium”]Hisham Zreiq
2007 | Documentary | 24 min
The Sons of Eilaboun is about the massacre, expulsion, and eventual return of the residents of a small Palestinian village in the Galilee, events experienced by the filmmaker’s uncle.
Over Their Dead Bodies: Tantura, the Forgotten Massacre
[vc_single_image image=”8438″ img_size=”medium”]Arab Loutfi
2008 | Documentary | 113 min
Over Their Dead Bodies explores eyewitness testimonies from expelled residents of Tantura, a former Palestinian Arab fishing village that was located 28 kilometers south of Haifa. In May 1948, the village was attacked by Jewish Haganah forces as part of a regional “cleansing” operation in the foothills of Mount Carmel, with the goal of expelling the Arab residents. Many Palestinians were killed; hundreds imprisoned. Survivors fled to the nearby village of Fureidis, which was spared destruction when Jewish residents of nearby towns interceded. Other survivors became refugees in the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Kibbutz Nahsholim and Moshav Dor were subsequently built on land on the outskirts of Tantura.
The Dupes (Al Makhdu’un)
[vc_single_image image=”8440″ img_size=”medium”]Tawfik Saleh
1972 | Narrative | 106 min
The Dupes is a critically acclaimed 1972 Syrian drama film directed by Tawfik Saleh. Based on Ghassan Kanafani’s 1963 novel, Men in the Sun, the film portrays the lives of three Palestinian refugees after the 1948 Nakba by following three generations of men who made their way from Palestine to Iraq on the hope of reaching Kuwait to pursue their dreams of freedom and prosperity. The Dupes is a classic that received very positive reviews from critics and won multiple awards locally and internationally.