Palestinian voices grip Sundance
PARK CITY:
Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis was in the West Bank, days away from shooting her ambitious and deeply personal drama All That's Left Of You, when the events of October 7, 2023 forced a radical rethink.
"We were forced to evacuate... It was really devastating to have to leave our Palestinian crew behind," recalled Dabis.
"Everyone was so excited to work on this historic Palestinian film that felt like a milestone."
The film – one of two Palestinian offerings premiering at this year's Sundance festival – follows three generations of a family who were expelled from coastal Jaffa in 1948 and sent to the West Bank.
Costing between $5-8 million, it is a rare example of a major Palestinian-centred feature film getting a high-profile premiere in the West.
"It's really, really hard to make any film, but it's particularly hard to make a Palestinian film," said Dabis.
"It's hard to raise money for these films... I think people have perhaps been afraid to tell the story."
Both intimate and epic in scope, the film jumps chronologically, from 1948 through the decades to the near-present day.
Dabis herself stars as a mother forced to confront an impossible decision when her son is wounded in 1988 during the first intifada, or uprising.
Many of the stories are based on the real experiences of Dabis and her family.
In one harrowing scene, a father is humiliated at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers in front of his young child, creating a father-son rift that will never heal.
"I saw my dad humiliated at borders and checkpoints," said Dabis, who visited the West Bank frequently as a child. "He confronted the soldiers, and they started screaming at him, and I was convinced they were going to kill him."
'Blowback'
Though the film centres on a single family and is deeply personal in nature, the divisive nature of its subject matter means All That's Left Of You is certain to provoke criticism.
Dabis says that the film does not set out to be political, but accepts that the impression is unavoidable.
"We can't tell our stories without having to answer to some political questions," she told AFP.
"We should be able to share our life experiences and tell our personal and family stories and share our points of view without having to contend with blowback. So often we do end up fearing it, even before we have told the story."
That political reality reared again in October 2023, when an attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,306 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Dabis and her team fled, and completed the film by using locations in Jordan, Cyprus and Greece standing in for her ancestral homeland.
"I'm actually still shocked that we finished the film," Dabis told the premiere audience.
It does not yet have a theatrical distributor.
'Dearth of our stories'
Also premiering at Sundance on Sunday is the documentary Coexistence My Ass! It follows Jewish peace activist-turned-comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi, as she constructs a one-woman show and grapples with the consequences of Israel's military campaign.
"As an activist, I reached 20 people, and in a viral video mocking dictators, I reached 20 million people," she told AFP, admitting she is "anxious" about how the film will be received.
Earlier this week, No Other Land, a film by a Palestinian-Israeli activist collective about Palestinians displaced by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank, earned an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature. It still does not have a US distributor.
"The industry has to ask itself... there obviously is a need for these films, people want to see these films," said Coexistence My Ass! director Amber Fares.
"I do think that perhaps in the last few years, we have seen a shift," added Dabis. "People are understanding that there's a dearth of our stories.. and that our stories are really missing from the mainstream narrative." AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
Sylvester Stallone is not dead: Online confusion follows passing of funk legend Sly Stone
Actor Sylvester Stallone is alive and well despite a wave of misleading tributes that surfaced online on Monday, June 9. The confusion arose after the confirmed death of funk music pioneer Sly Stone at age 82. The mistaken reports stemmed from the nickname 'Sly,' which both Stone and Stallone share. Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, was a pivotal figure in American music history, known for leading the revolutionary band Sly and the Family Stone. His hits like 'Everyday People' and 'Family Affair' helped redefine funk and soul music. Stone died peacefully after a prolonged battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a family statement. His legacy includes breaking racial and gender barriers in popular music and inspiring generations of artists. In contrast, Stallone—best known for his roles in 'Rocky' and 'Rambo'—continues to work in film and remains politically outspoken. The 78-year-old has not commented publicly on the mix-up, though social media was quick to clarify the error. Sly Stone leaves behind children including Novena Carmel and Phunne Stone, while Stallone's children include Sage, Seargeoh, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
Lilo & Stitch' stays on top in third week
The Disney film beat the latest 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Ballerina'. PHOTO: File Disney's family-friendly Lilo & Stitch kept up its dominance of the early summer North American box office, winning for a third week in a row with $32.5 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday, as reported by AFP. The live-action remake of a 2002 animated film of the same name has so far raked in $335.8 million in the United States and Canada, and another $436 million abroad, Exhibitor Relations said. Debuting in second place at $25 million was Lionsgate's Ballerina, a John Wick spin-off starring Ana de Armas as a dancer turned contract killer, and co-starring Anjelica Huston. Keanu Reeves makes a brief appearance as the hitman Wick. "This is a weak opening for an action thriller spin-off," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – the latest, and ostensibly last, in the hugely successful Tom Cruise spy thriller series based on a 1960s TV show – took third place with $15 million. The Paramount film has now grossed more than $449 million worldwide. In fourth place was Sony's Karate Kid: Legends, a sequel featuring Ralph Macchio - the star of the original 1984 classic - and action flick icon Jackie Chan, along with Ben Wang in the title role. It made $8.7 million at the domestic box office in its second week in theaters. And finishing up the top five was Warner Bros. and New Line's horror film Final Destination: Bloodlines, at $6.5 million. It has grossed $123.6 million so far at the domestic box office. Rounding out the top 10 were: The Phoenician Scheme ($6.25 million), Bring Her Back ($3.5 million), Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye ($3.1 million), Sinners ($2.9 million) and Thunderbolts ($2.5 million).
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
I have to say what's necessary for society: Banu Mushtaq
All writers draw on their experience, whether consciously or not, says Indian author Banu Mushtaq – including the titular tale of attempted self-immolation in her International Booker Prize-winning short story collection, as reported by AFP. Mushtaq, who won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada – an Indian regional language – said the author's responsibility is to reflect the truth. "You cannot simply write describing a rose," said the 77-year-old, who is also a lawyer and activist. "You cannot say it has got such a fragrance, such petals, such colour. You have to write about the thorns also. It is your responsibility, and you have to do it." Her book Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 powerful short stories, is also her first book translated into English, with the prize shared with her translator Deepa Bhasthi. Critics praised the collection for its dry and gentle humour, and its searing commentary on the patriarchy, caste and religion. Mushtaq has carved an alternative path in life, challenging societal restrictions and perceptions. As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her "chances of marriage". Born into a Muslim family in 1948, she studied in Kannada, which is spoken mostly in India's southern Karnataka state by around 43 million people, rather than Urdu, the language of Islamic texts in India and which most Muslim girls learnt. She attended college, and worked as a journalist and also as a high school teacher. 'Confused' But after marrying for love, Mushtaq found her life constricted. "I was not allowed to have any intellectual activities. I was not allowed to write," she said. "I was in that vacuum. That harmed me." She recounted how as a young mother aged around 27 with possible postpartum depression, and ground down by domestic life, she had doused petrol on herself and on the "spur of a moment" readied to set herself on fire. Her husband rushed to her with their three-month-old daughter. "He took the baby and put her on my feet, and he drew my attention to her and he hugged me, and he stopped me," Mushtaq told AFP. The experience is nearly mirrored in her book – in its case, the protagonist is stopped by her daughter. "People get confused that it might be my life," the writer said. Explaining that while not her exact story, "consciously or subconsciously, something of the author, it reflects in her or his writing". Books line the walls in Mushtaq's home, in the small southern Indian town of Hassan. Her many awards and certificates – including a replica of the Booker prize she won in London in May – are also on display. She joked that she was born to write – at least that is what a Hindu astrological birth chart said about her future. "I don't know how it was there, but I have seen the birth chart," Mushtaq said with a laugh, speaking in English. The award has changed her life "in a positive way", she added, while noting the fame has been a little overwhelming. "I am not against the people, I love people," she said, referring to the stream of visitors she gets to her home. "But with this, a lot of prominence is given to me, and I don't have any time for writing. I feel something odd... Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, a lot of relief." 'Patriarchy everywhere' Mushtaq's body of work spans six short story collections, an essay collection and poetry. The stories in Heart Lamp were chosen from the six short story collections, dating back to 1990. The Booker jury hailed her characters – from spirited grandmothers to bumbling religious clerics – as "astonishing portraits of survival and resilience". The stories portray Muslim women going through terrible experiences, including domestic violence, the death of children and extramarital affairs. Mushtaq said that while the main characters in her books are all Muslim women, the issues are universal. "They (women) suffer this type of suppression and this type of exploitation, this type of patriarchy everywhere," she said. "A woman is a woman, all over the world." While accepting that even the people for whom she writes may not like her work, Mushtaq said she remained dedicated to providing wider truths. "I have to say what is necessary for the society," she said. "The writer is always pro-people... With the people, and for the people."
