Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
It Must Be Heaven

Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019

Season

Please note : this season finished in Dec 2019

The Bristol Palestine Film Festival, now in its ninth year, returns with a range of documentaries and feature films (some never seen before in the UK) that provide a unique insight into life in and around Palestine, told through the stories of the people who live there.

Watershed kicks off its screenings with Cinema of Palestinian Revolution - a medley of films from the PLO film unit which have been tracked down and restored having been destroyed and lost from Palestinian culture since 1982; and In Vitro - a beautiful shot film exploring inherited trauma, exile and collective memory which will be followed by a conversation with Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind in association with Spike Island.

Key highlights include award-winning writer-director Bassam Jarbawi's Screwdriver, which was shot entirely in the West Bank and explores the physical and emotional toll on Palestinian prisoner - Ziad as he returns home after 15 years in Israeli jail and The Tower - a delightful 2D animation, suitable for a family audience telling the story of Wardi, a young girl living in a Palestinian refugee camp.

We'll be closing the festival with It Must Be Heaven, writer-director Elia Suleiman's (Divine Intervention, The Time That Remains) first film in a decade exploring the meaning of being in exile, and the absurdities of nationalism, normality and identity.

As well as the screenings at Watershed the Bristol Palestine Film Festival also takes place at other venues across Bristol. Check out bristolpff.org.uk for the full programme.


Previous screenings in this season

It Must Be Heaven

classified 18 PS Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
It Must Be Heaven
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

Through a series of darkly comic vignettes shot in international locales, Palestinian director Elia Suleiman investigates the meanings of being in exile, and the absurdities of nationalism, normality, and identity.

The Tower

classified 12A S Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
The Tower
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

This delightful film uses stop-frame and 2D animation to tell the story of Wardi, a young girl living in a Palestinian refugee camp.

The Apollo of Gaza

classified 18 S Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
The Apollo of Gaza
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

Full of mystery and unexpected twists, this fascinating documentary seeks to uncover the secrets behind a stunning archaeological discovery - a 2000 year old statue of Apollo discovered in Gaza.

Screwdriver

classified 15 S Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
Screwdriver
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

Award winning writer-director Bassam Jarbawi’s ambitious feature debut, shot entirely in the West Bank, follows Ziad as he returns home after 15 years in an Israeli jail for a failed attack on a settler.

In Vitro + Sci-Fi Triology

classified 18 (CTBA) Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
In Vitro
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

An exploration of four films made over ten years by Danish-Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour and director Søren Lind - examining their evolving use of sci-fi to explore issues of history, place and identity, closing with the Bristol premiere screening of In Vitro.

Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution

PS Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2019
Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution
Please note: This was screened in Dec 2019
Film

In 1982, the Palestine Film Unit archive was destroyed, and its contents stolen during the Israeli invasion of Beirut. Now newly restored and

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