Film / News
Bristol Palestine Film Festival makes a timely return
Now in its 14th year, the Bristol Palestine Film Festival returns this November with a timely programme that “spotlights the creative storytelling and defiance of filmmakers from Palestine and beyond”. The Festival, which found itself the subject of unwanted national headlines in 2023, takes place at a number of local venues from November 28 – December 8.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
It opens with the UK premiere of The Voice of Hind Rajab, which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival. A mix of drama and documentary, the film tells the haunting true story of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli army in 2024. The screening will be followed by a cast and director Q&A.
Censorhip and control is a major theme of this year’s festival, with the documentaries Censoring Palestine and The Palestine Laboratory exploring the machinery of silence and surveillance.
Censoring Palestine uncovers how counter-terror laws, cultural institutions, and broadcasters suppress Palestinian perspectives in Britain.
The Palestine Laboratory, based on Antony Loewenstein’s acclaimed book, reveals how Israel turns occupied Palestine into a testing ground for weapons and surveillance that is subsequently exported across the globe.
Other highlights include A State of Passion, which follows surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah for 43 days and nights under bombardment.
“This year’s films reveal the uncomfortable truth: what is happening in Palestine is deeply intertwined with us in the UK,” says BPFF trustee Karena Batstone “In Bristol alone, so many are protesting the city’s role in the global arms trade. These films make that connection real, such as showing how technologies and surveillance tested on Palestinians come back to affect us all.
“Bristol Palestine Film Festival gives audiences an opportunity to join the dots, to realise our complicity, and to think about the shared responsibility we carry. And the festival gives our audiences a chance to connect, understand, and seek solidarity together.”
Go here for the full programme and to buy tickets.
Main image from ‘A State of Passion’. All images supplied by Bristol Palestine Film Festival
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