Palestine Cinema Days aims at placing Palestine on the map of the international film industry and movie landscape, in addition to promoting local and international films across several venues in different cities within Palestine. 

Most films selected are part of this year’s Palestinian Sunbird Short Film Competition: 

- Bethlehem 2001 by Ibrahim Handal, 2020, 15 minutes

- Siri Miri by Luay Awwad, 2020, 6 minutes

- Headcount by Akram Alwaara, 2020, 14 minutes

- Yaffa by Nada El-Omari, 2019, 8 minutes

From 2019 competition 

- Maradona’s Legs by Firas Khoury, 2019, 23 minutes

- Strange Cities Are Familiar by Saeed Taji Farouky, 2019, 20 minutes

Being the only international film festival held in Palestine and organised by a local institute, Palestine Cinema Days Film Festival has grown to be a milestone in the Palestinian cinema culture. Each year the festival has the largest, most diverse audience attending a cultural event in the country. Over the years, the festival became the platform where local and international productions are portrayed. Palestine Cinema Days is the festival that has put Palestine on the world cinema culture map. 

Bethlehem 2001

A young Palestinian wanders between his current reflections and his childhood memories of the military invasion and siege of Bethlehem. He tries to understand how his parents could lead him through those difficult times, hoping that would help him cope with the present time.

Ibrahim Handal, 2020, 15 minutes

Siri Miri

Sick of their routine-run life, two millennials turn to the help of Siri in order to spice up their monotonous life, only to find out that Siri is oblivious to the unique situation they live in.

Luay Awwad, 2020, 6 minutes

Headcount

A Palestinian man placed in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison struggles physically as well as psychologically. Following a number of days, a cockroach enters his cell and becomes his only source of solace.

Akram Alwaara, 2020, 14 minutes

Yaffa

Yaffa is a short experimental film in which space and time become meshed together to form the fragments we create our stories from. In those pieces of images, memories arise and stories retell themselves. It is through our mutual time, words, explorations and spaces that I realized my grandfather gifted me a home.

Nada El-Omari, 2019, 8 minutes

Maradona’s Legs

During the 1990 World Cup, two young Palestinian boys are looking for “Maradona’s legs” - the last missing sticker that they need in order to complete their world cup album and win a free Atari.

Firas Khoury, 2019, 23 minutes

Strange Cities Are Familiar

A film about memories, guilt, and resilience. Inspired by the writing of Mourid Barghouti and the director's personal and family experiences, this is the story of Ashraf, a Palestinian father living in the UK, who is struggling to confront the memories that haunt him: the promises he could not keep, and the family he could not protect.

Saeed Taji Farouky, 2019, 20 minutes

Screening as part of the 21st Belfast Film Festival. Please note: all tickets are sold via the Belfast Film Festival box office. If you have any access requirements please get in touch with the box office before booking: boxoffice@belfastfilmfestival.org.

For more information about the festival please visit belfastfilmfestival.org.