Making films in Palestine, an obstacle course

Palestinian children watch a film at an event called Cinema Camp organized by Palestinian activists in the al-Nusirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on January 26, 2020. AFP - MAHMUD HAMS

Text by: Alice Froussard Follow

3 min

In France since October 6, the last film of the Nasser brothers, "Gaza mon Amour" is in theaters.

And the two Palestinian directors do not cease to recall that they were born exactly one year after the closure of the last cinema in Gaza, the coastal enclave under blockade.

Lack of audience, lack of money, lack of industry, for Palestinians, in Gaza as in the occupied West Bank, being a director is not easy.

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From our correspondent in Ramallah,

Making films in Palestine is extremely complicated, especially if we are talking about independent cinema.

Why ?

First of all because there is no local cinema market: it is very small, even non-existent.

At the level of the public, it is a bit the same thing: Palestinians are not the most fond of this type of cinema, or quite simply have never been used to it.

The dominant films in theaters are the big Hollywood productions or the very commercial Egyptian films.

The cruel lack of money

Making the cinema you want, depending on the subject, is also complicated: highly politicized subjects will find it difficult to see the light of day or will not have the exposure or the dissemination that they could hope for in the region.

But the main problem, if we can only mention one, is the lack of money.

There is no financial aid for directors, no aid for creation, no aid for cinema in general.

And then, denounce many actors in the profession, the Palestinian governments, in the occupied West Bank or in Gaza, do not make culture their priority.

And yet, there are many stories to tell, unique, political, social, strong stories.

And there are talented Palestinian directors too, although most of them don't make a living from their cinema.

To make films, you need money and gold material in the occupied West Bank as in Gaza, for example, there is no renting material that comes from Israel or bringing it from elsewhere, and it's worth it. Dear.

"

" explains Hanna Atallah, the founder and artistic director of FilmLab, a structure in Ramallah which helps young directors to hatch their film projects.

“

” he says.

► 

Looking for outside help

How are young directors doing then? It all depends on individual trajectories, but for example, thanks to support structures like FilmLab, thanks to meetings in festivals, thanks to co-productions, often financed by European countries or thanks to cultural residencies in other countries. other countries, young directors can find producers, partners, broadcasters, people who believe in their projects; but it is a real obstacle course.

We can also see a first solution to the distribution on the side of online platforms: the short film

 by Palestinian director

was broadcast on Netflix when it was nominated for the Oscars this year.

And then, from October 14, Netflix will also put on line some twenty Palestinian films and documentaries.

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