This programme of nine shorts includes the work of both young and established Palestinian filmmakers. The first three films reflect directly on the events of the Nakba (the 1948 Catastrophe) and the dream of return through animation, oral testimony and digital technology.  The remainder of the programme explores contemporary experiences, through traditional documentary, docu-drama and the film essay.

Details and Ticket from Home Cinema

Part One: History and exile

House
Ahmed Saleh, 2011, 4 mins
The sensitive animation tells a powerful story.  For generations, a family lived in a spacious and beautiful house. Guests were always welcome to enjoy a pleasant stay.  Until one guest arrived with a different plan in mind.

Alyasiini
Sahera Dirbas, 22 mins
The testament from an elderly Palestinian from the village of Deir Yassin who witnessed the massacre of 1948, an event that changed the course of history for Palestinians.

Your father was born 100 years ago and so was the Nakba  
Razan Al Slaah, 2017, 7 mins
Oum Amin, a Palestinian grandmother, returns to her hometown Haifa through Google Maps Streetview.

Part Two: Contemporary dreams and realities

Oslo Syndrom
Ayman Azraq, 6 mins

Journey of a Sofa
Alaa Al Ali, 9 mins

Twenty Handshakes for Peace
Mahdi Fleifel, 3 mins

Message to Obama
Muhannad Salahat, 7 mins

Interference
Anim Nayfeh, 2014, 11 mins
These five films were produced by Palestinian directors 20 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and are part of a larger collection of short films called Suspended Time. The films present what feels like a suspended reality of unfulfilled dreams to capture feeling of fragmentation, loss, hope and humour in contemporary Palestinian experience.

Today they Took my Son
Farah Nabulsi, 2016, 8 mins
The story of a mother coping with her young son being taken away by a military system and her helplessness to prevent the cruel and inhumane treatment she knows he is experiencing.

Event details
The shorts programme will be followed by a post-screening discussion. Organised in collaboration with Cinema Palestino Manchester and Sheffield Hallam University (Creative Interruptions, AHRC).