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A FIDAI FILM

  • Gene Siskel Film Center 164 North State Street Chicago, IL, 60601 United States (map)

A FIDAI FILM

2024, dir. Kamal Aljafari
Palestine, Germany, Qatar, Brazil, France; 78 min.
Arabic, English, Hebrew with English subtitles

In the Summer of 1982, the Israeli army invaded Beirut. During this time, it raided the Palestinian Research Center and looted its entire archive. The archive contained historical documents of Palestine, including a collection of still and moving images. Taking this as a premise, “A Fidai Film” explores the visual memory of this looting and appropriates images that are now in the hands of Israeli archives.

Preceded by the short films:

IN A MOMENT

2024, dir. Asil Alwadiya, 5 min.

Between beauty and flames, art and destruction, this short documentary portrays Khawla's life during the war and her adaptation to the harsh conditions imposed on her.

A picture of a Palestinian woman wearing a hijab..

I’LL GET BACK TO YOU

2023, dir. Uday Jubeh, 8 min.

For the first time in decades, an exile arrives in Palestine and enters his family home. His mission to reveal the secrets of the past takes him on an unexpected path.

A man stands atop a hill that overlooks a Palestinian city.

FORGET ME NOT

2023, dir. Mohammed Al Majdalawi, 10 min.

While living abroad, Mohammed begins to receive pleas of help from his family trapped in Gaza, enduring the latest onslaught. He learns there are other ways forward other than hopelessness.

A man holds a smart phone with a picture of him and a friend sitting in a car laughing.

PINK SWING

2023, dir. Ala’a Al Qaisi, 11 min.

In a Palestinian village, the lives of three children intertwine around a pink swing, but their friendship, affection and dreams are put to the test when the Israeli occupation army arrives, bringing with it a harsh reality they must confront together.

Three children sit together eating pastries.