Saudi-funded film "Palestine 36" is screened at TIFF 2025
Annemarie Jacir, the acclaimed director behind "Palestine 36," brought her latest masterpiece to the renowned Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. Jacir, who has previously directed films like "Salt of the Sea," "When I Saw You," "Wajib," and episodes of "Ramy," has once again demonstrated her prowess in storytelling.
The premiere was a star-studded event, attended by British actors Billy Howle and Robert Aramayo, Palestinian actor Karim Daoud Anaya, Palestinian Jordanian film producer Ossama Bawardi, Annemarie Jacir, Saleh Bakri, Yasmine Al-Massri, and Hiam Abbass. The ensemble cast of "Palestine 36" boasts Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, "Game of Thrones" star Liam Cunningham, Tunisian actor Dhafer L'Abidine, and Palestinian talents Hiam Abbass, Yasmine Al-Massri, Kamel El Basha, and Saleh Bakri.
Set on the outskirts of Jerusalem, "Palestine 36" is a dramatic film that delves into the Arab uprising against the British mandate in 1936. The official logline for the film reads: "In 1936, as villages across Mandatory Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest."
Work on the project began before the global pandemic, and the film was partially funded by the Red Sea Film Fund, which is based in Saudi Arabia. The Toronto International Film Festival was the venue for the film's world premiere, which was a gala screening.
Despite the film's setting not being explicitly specified as within modern-day Israel or Palestine, the story of the Arab uprising against British rule remains a significant chapter in the region's history. "Palestine 36" is poised to be a compelling addition to the annals of filmmaking, offering a glimpse into a tumultuous period in the Middle East's past.
