PANEL DISCUSSION: Palestinian Cinema 75 Years After the Nakba

with Firas Khoury, Jumana Manna and Basma Al-Sharif – moderated by Claudia Jubeh

> 29.04.2023 | 17.00 | Sinema Transtopia | free admission

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From intimate political documentaries and formally innovative essays to coming-of-age stories showcasing the challenges of what it nowadays means to grow up as a Palestinian and original genre films that do not deal directly with political questions, the current spectrum of Palestinian film production is broad and varied. This panel aims to showcase and address the present state of the Palestinian cinematic landscape in all its diversity. What drives the new generation of Palestinian directors to make films? How do they find a balance between their political, formal and aesthetic considerations? And what are the challenges that they face?

Firas Khoury is a Palestinian director and screenwriter. Khoury has written and directed several award winning short films. Alongside his directorial activity, Khoury is a founding member of Group Falastinema, which develops film workshops and presents screenings throughout Palestine.

Jumana Manna is a Palestinian artist whose work shifts between sculpture and film, body and land, narrative and form. Her practice explores how power is articulated through relationships, often focusing on the body and materiality in relation to narratives of nationalism and histories of place.

Basma Al-Sharif is a Palestinian artist focusing on both cinema and installations, exploring political conflicts and collective memory while confronting the legacy of colonialism. She has been working nomadically between Cairo, Beirut and Amman.

Claudia Jubeh is a German-Palestinian film scholar, whose master thesis in film studies analyzed national and cultural identity in Palestinian cinema. In Berlin she worked for different companies as well as German-Arab NGOs in the areas of film production, distribution, and project coordination. In 2014 she won the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for International cooperation as producer of the short fiction film Dry Hot Summers (Germany/ Egypt 2015), directed by Sherif Elbendary. Her previous engagement at ALFILM between 2009 and 2020 includes the position of program director and festival manager