IDSFFK: spotlight on stories of Palestinian struggle

A still from Julien Menanteau and Nour Ben Salem’s Palestine Island.

The long years of struggle of the Palestinians under the imperial occupying forces of Israel will be the focus of a package of films to be screened at the 16th edition of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), to be held in the capital from July 26 to 31. The package titled ‘An Ode to Resilience: Tales from Palestine’ will feature short films and documentaries showcasing various tales of resistance and resilience from the war-torn land.

Bye Bye Tiberias, directed by Lina Soualem, pieces together images from the present and the 1990s to tell the story of four generations of Palestinian women. The filmmaker, who is the daughter of well-known actor Hiam Abbas, returns to her mother’s native village in Palestine 30 years later to understand the bold choices made by the women in her family.

Heavy Metal, directed by Timo Bruun and Edward Knowles, follows the lives and dreams of young Palestinian women challenging norms within their refugee camp and beyond through weightlifting competitions.

Julien Menanteau and Nour Ben Salem’s Palestine Islands narrates the tale of 12-year-old Maha, who makes her blind grandfather believe that the wall of separation has fallen, making a return to his native land possible. The Roller, the Life, the Fight shows the journey of filmmakers Elettra Bisogno and Hazem Alqaddi as they embark on a life in Belgium.