A State of Passion (2024)

Gaza, génération génocidée

Plot unavailable

Fadia’s Tree

While millions of birds migrate freely in the skies above, Fadia, a Palestinian refugee stranded in Lebanon, yearns for the ancestral homeland she is denied. When a chance meeting introduces her to the director, Sarah, she challenges her to find an ancient mulberry tree that once grew next to her grandfather’s house in historic Palestine, a tree that stands witness to her family’s existence.

Here and Elsewhere

Here and Elsewhere takes its name from the contrasting footage it shows of the fedayeen and of a French family watching television at home. Originally shot by the Dziga Vertov Group as a film on Palestinian freedom fighters, Godard later reworked the material alongside Anne-Marie Miéville.

HALEMEH

In the Gaza refugee camp of Jerash, Palestinians face the critical issue of lacking identification documents. This situation undermines their rights and hinders access to essential services and opportunities.

Israelism

When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the mistreatment of Palestinians, they battle the old guard to create a new movement opposing Israel’s occupation, and recentering Judaism itself.

Waltz with Bashir

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority

A thought-provoking documentary on the current and historical causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. political involvement.

Louis Theroux: The Settlers

14 years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.

The Good Soldier

A look inside the work of Breaking the Silence, an organization of former IDF combat soldiers who collect and publish testimonies of soldiers who served in the occupied territories. For six months, director Silvina Landsmann, camera in hand, accompanied the staff of the organization. The many hours of footage have been refined into a film that dives into the heart of Breaking the Silence’s work: guided tours of Hebron and the surrounding area, public lectures and house meetings, internal staff meetings and media strategy. All the while the organization is forced to justify its very existence, both internally and to the broader public, and to justify its place in the political debate. The Good Soldier raises questions about Israel’s dynamic mainstream and the challenges of confronting it.

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

An Iranian filmmaker participates in a series of video calls with a young Palestinian photojournalist who describes her life confined in Gaza during the current regional conflict.

War Photographer

Documentary about war photographer James Nachtwey, considered by many the greatest war photographer ever.

Fertile Memory

A portrait of two Palestinian women whose individual struggles both define and transcend the politics that have torn apart their homes and their lives. Farah Hatoum, a widow living with her children and grandchildren, and Sahar Khalifeh, a novelist from the West Bank.

June 1940, the Great Chaos

From May 10, 1940, France is living one of the worst tragedies of it history. In a few weeks, the country folds, and then collapsed in facing the attack of the Nazi Germany. On June 1940, each day is a tragedy. For the first time, thanks to historic revelations, and to numerous never seen before images and documents and reenacted situations of the time, this film recounts the incredible stories of those men and women trapped in the torment of this great chaos.

Three Promises

Yousef Srouji’s childhood in Palestine wasn’t something that he and his parents spoke of as a family, so when he found a box of his mother’s home videos from the early 2000s, an especially perilous and tumultuous period in the West Bank, the tapes became a means for remembering and comprehending a painful past. The stories she captured illuminate the nature of life in a war zone, and familial bonds that cannot be broken. – Bedatri Choudhury (DocNYC)

Gaza Ghetto

Gaza Ghetto: Portrait of a Family, 1948 – 1984 is a documentary film about the life of a Palestinian family living in the Jabalia refugee camp. The film, created by Joan Mandell, Pea Holmquist, and Pierre Bjorklund in 1984 is believed to be the first documentary ever made in Gaza. The film features Ariel Sharon, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and soldiers on patrol "candidly discuss[ing] their responsibilities." The film follows a refugee family from the Gaza Strip who visit the site of their former village, now a Jewish town in Israel. As the grandfather and great-grandfather point out an orchard and sycamore fig that belonged to Muhammed Ayyub and Uncle Khalil, an Israeli resident appears and tells them to leave, claiming they need a permit to be there. The mother tells him that, "We work in Jaffa and Tel Aviv and that's not forbidden," to which he replies, "Here it's forbidden."

Promises & Betrayals: Britain and the Struggle for the Holy Land

A documentary on how British double-dealing during the First World War ignited the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. The bitter struggle between Arab and Jew for control of the Holy Land has caused untold suffering in the Middle East for generations. It is often claimed that the crisis originated with Jewish emigration to Palestine and the foundation of the state of Israel. Yet the roots of the conflict are to be found much earlier – in British double-dealing during the First World War. This is a story of intrigue among rival empires; of misguided strategies; and of how conflicting promises to Arab and Jew created a legacy of bloodshed which determined the fate of the Middle East.

Flee

Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.

Persona Non Grata

2003 documentary film produced by Oliver Stone for the HBO series America Undercover about the conflict in occupied Palestine. He speaks with Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime ministers of Israel, Yasser Arafat, late president of the Palestinian National Authority, and various Palestinian activists resisting the oppression of the zionist regime.

A Song Called Hate

The pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, BDSM-provocative, techno-punk performance art ensemble Hatari unsurprisingly drew attention to themselves with their performance at the Icelandic qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest. So much so that they won and therefore were allowed to perform at the main event in Tel Aviv. But what now? Should they boycott the event, swallow their idealism, or use their airtime to criticise the host country for their illegal occupation of Palestine? The Icelandic director Anna Hildur joins the boys in the band all the way to the fateful final.

Aida Returns

A poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.

Shahida: Brides of Allah

Israeli director Natalie Assouline chronicles the lives of women, mostly young mothers, in prison for involvement in failed suicide attacks/terrorists attacks in Israel. Filmed over two years, this portrait strives to unearth the motivations behind their crimes. With the women's heads and feelings firmly covered, the film reveals no answers, just the heart-breaking tension between humanity and ideology.

What Walaa Wants

Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank while her mother was in prison, Walaa dreams of being a policewoman, wearing a uniform, avoiding marriage, and earning a salary. Despite discouragement from her family, Walaa applies - and gets in. But her own rebellious behavior and a complicated relationship with her mother are a challenge, as are the circumstances under which she lives. Following Walaa from 15 to 21, this first-ever look inside the Palestinian police academy brings us the story of a young woman navigating formidable obstacles, learning which rules to break and follow, and disproving the negative predictions from her surroundings and the world at large.

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Archival film maestro Göran Hugo Olsson has assembled—from a vast catalogue of footage in the vaults of Sweden’s national television service SVT—accounts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as witnessed and represented by Swedish journalists. Stories of the beginning of the Israeli state interwoven with the Palestinian struggle for independence. News coverage with Yasser Arafat and interviews with Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban during a visit to Sweden unseen since first broadcast. From the tenth anniversary of Israel’s founding to the First Intifada, perspectives and encounters with statesmen, civilians, revolutionaries, and intellectuals tell the story from myriad angles of an evolving media landscape, revivifying a history of the ongoing conflict.

Stallions of Palestine

A Palestinian family navigates the difficulties of raising Arabian horses in the West Bank, where access to vets and training facilities always seems to be a checkpoint away.

The Dream

Interviews with Palestinians living in Lebanese refugee camps, some of it shot in Sabra and Shatila before the massacre.

Pour l'honneur de Gaza, des déplacés sous les tentes

Plot unavailable

To Kill a War Machine

Through real-time bodycam and phone footage, frontline activists take audiences along on their audacious raids to tear down arms factories around the UK. Since 2020, direct action group Palestine Action have documented their operations to dismantle the companies and infrastructure supplying weapons to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Where Olive Trees Weep

Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.

O'ud

Ghassan Sidawi takes a trip to get to know more about a late friend of his family. While doing so, he learns what it feels to be a lost Palestinian artist from home.

Gaza: Doctors Under Attack

A forensic investigation into the impact of Israeli military operations on Gaza’s healthcare system. This urgent documentary examines evidence of widespread destruction across the territory’s medical infrastructure, where all 36 main hospitals have reportedly been damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of healthcare workers — including doctors and surgeons — are known to have been killed, injured or detained, with some alleging imprisonment and mistreatment

Let It Bring Hope: Bohemians v Palestine

A documentary on the historic first-ever visit of a Palestinian National team to Europe, following the Palestinian women's team as they arrive in Ireland to a heroes' welcome and play a solidarity friendly against Bohemian FC on May 15th, 2024. The sold-out match marked the 76th anniversary of the Nakba and highlighted the ongoing genocide and human rights violations happening every day in occupied Palestine. It was one of the most emotional and important games ever held at Dalymount Park in its long and storied history since 1901, and the event raised over €100,000 for three Palestinian humanitarian organizations.

Resistance Climbing

In 2014, during a trip, American Tim Bruns discovered cliffs in a small village five minutes north of Ramallah in Palestine and got to work equipping all the easy routes, then setting up climbing routes so that we can start teaching people how to climb. Bruns and Harris also opened Wadi Climbing, the first indoor climbing gym in Palestine. Today, gathered in the conflict-torn hills of Palestine, a diverse team of Bedouins, activists and urban professionals have embraced climbing as a much-needed respite from the burden of Israeli occupation. American writer and climber Andrew Bisharat visits the West Bank to explore his own roots and the power of climbing to transform lives. This documentary is part of the Reel Rock 17 series released in 2023.

Tantura

When, in the late 1990s, Israeli student Teddy Katz exposed the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the village of Tantura, in May 1948, during the first Arab-Israeli war, he was initially praised for his pioneering work; but he was soon infamous and branded a traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges that corroborates Teddy's findings.

The Books He Didn't Burn

Explores how Hitler’s personal library provides a look into his mind and how it significantly informed his worldview.

Reel Rock 17

Three new films featuring the biggest climbing and adventure stories of the year: ADN - SEB BOUIN: 29-year-old French sport climber Seb Bouin quietly climbed the elite ranks, culminating in his attempt to establish a long slope in a cave overhang in the Gorges du Verdon in France / CLIMBING RESISTANCE: In the hills torn by the Palestinian conflict, young Palestinians embrace rock climbing as a necessary respite from the oppression of the occupation Israeli. American writer and climber Andrew Bisharat visits the West Bank to explore his own roots and the power of climbing to transcend existence / BURNING THR FLAME: Big wall free climbing masters Babsi and Jacopo seek their most Biggest challenge so far: a free ascent of "Eternal Flame", a 3,000 foot route on the legendary Nameless Tower in Pakistan's Karakoram Range.

Kitchen Dialogue

A generational trauma through the lens of an Asian American teenager through food and poetry.

Yallah! Underground

Yallah! Underground follows some of today’s most influential and progressive artists in Arab underground culture from 2009 to 2013 and documents their work, dreams and fears in a time of great change for Arab societies. In a region full of tension, young Arab artists in the Middle East have struggled for years to express themselves freely and to promote more liberal attitudes within their societies. During the Arab Spring, like many others of this new generation, local artists had high hopes for the future and took part in the protests. However, after years of turmoil and instability, young Arabs now have to challenge both old and new problems, being torn between feelings of disillusion and a vague hope for a better future.

Visit Palestine

What drives a young, well-educated Westerner to volunteer as a “peace activist” in the Middle East? Caiomhe Butterly is one of a growing number of volunteers who risk their own safety to intervene in the long-running and bloody conflict between Israel and Palestine. Several internationals, including her, have now been injured. Some have died. In this film, she describes witnessing the aftermath of the attack on Jenin in April 2002. The film follows her work, the main emphasis being “the accompaniment of communities at risk”. Despite being threatened, shot in the leg and deported later that year, she is determined to go back.

The Olive Tree

Filmed between 1973 and 1975, L’Olivier was produced by the Vincennes Cinema Group. This activist collective of teachers and filmmakers, formed on the occasion of this film, attempts to explain the Palestinian problem through interviews. The Olivier was one of the first films to attempt to give substance to what was still largely ignored in the West: the existence of the Palestinian people and their fight to recover their rights. L'Olivier responds to a concern: the already weak support of French public opinion for the Palestinian cause diminished following the Munich operation of 1972. Structured in such a way as to tell the Palestinian story and explain the state of the struggle at the time, the film appeals to global militant solidarity and, in particular, to European political commitments.

Holy Redemption: Stealing Palestinian Lands

Filmed on location in the West Bank in the immediate aftermath of the Gaza genocide that began on October 7, this documentary sheds light on the alleged support provided by the Israeli state and army to radical groups. Through the perspectives of both perpetrators and witnesses, it recounts the terror and land theft carried out by radical illegal settlers against Palestinians.

It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive

Bisan Owda, journalist and influencer collaborator of the media AJ+, is at the forefront of reporting by filming with her phone, the daily life of Palestinians to the world since October 7, 2023, the start of the war and devastation from Gaza. Owda's storytelling style and resilience have captured international attention, with his work widely covered by international media. She received an Emmy Award in 2024 for her outstanding coverage of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Farfour: A War Diary from Gaza

Amid the ruins of northern Gaza, Ibrahim clings to the only companion he has left: Farfour, a stray cat he adopted during the war. Farfour has become more than just a pet for Ibrahim. He has turned into his shadow, his confidant, his last connection to humanity. Together, Ibrahim and Farfour navigate a collapsing world, enduring a relentless siege while living in an unsafe building, with no water and electricity. As the war tightens its grip, Ibrahim must flee.

Mea Culpa

Lies and guilt are at the core of Patrick’s relationship with his mother Randa. Over the years, he has collected their audio messages and video calls, transforming them into a portrait of her life in Lebanon and his own in Belgium. This very intimate yet social piece reveals a complex relationship marked by the distance between the two characters and shows what one may experience as a homosexual migrant. By turns moving, provocative, and hilarious, Mea Culpa questions the links between national and sexual identities for a young Palestinian migrant.

'Til Kingdom Come

Millions of American Evangelicals are praying for the State of Israel. This film traces this unusual relationship, from rural Kentucky to the halls of government in Washington, through the moving of the American Embassy in Jerusalem and to the annexation plan of the West Bank.