PFF25: A Fidai Film + Upshot

Investigating the looting of Palestinian archives which took place in Beirut in 1982, the film makes visible materials hidden in Israeli archives, and proposes a counter-narrative of a continuous history of appropriation.

In the summer of 1982, during Israel’s invasion of Beirut, the Israeli army raided the Palestinian Research Centre, looting its entire archive, which contained invaluable documents and visual materials of Palestinian history. The erasure of Palestinian material culture is a more obscured front on Israel’s dispossession of Palestinian peoples, continuing with the recent destruction of archives, libraries, and museums in Gaza. These acts are deliberate violations of Palestinian sovereignty, making it harder for future generations to reclaim their histories.

Through a blend of documentary and experimental filmmaking, A Fidai Film reclaims and confronts the looted images now held in Israeli archives, offering a counter-narrative to this erasure. Kamal Aljafari’s cinematic sabotage is an act of resistance against the destruction of Palestinian cultural memory, connecting past and present efforts to obliterate Palestinian heritage. Through this archival lens, the film emphasises the urgent need to preserve and reclaim Palestinian history amid ongoing occupation and displacement.

Arabic, Hebrew and English with English subtitles.

A Fidai Film is presented alongside the short film Upshot.

Upshot follows retired couple Suleiman and Lubna, living quietly on a remote farm, spending their days in routine and playful arguments about their children. Their peaceful life is disrupted when a journalist appears, intent on probing their hidden past.

What starts as a simple family drama transforms into something deeper and more unsettling. Amer Hlehel plays the journalist with a subtle intensity, while Mohammad Bakri and Areen Omari deliver compelling performances as the couple, exploring themes of love, loss, and denial.

With crisp cinematography by Augustin Bonnet and well-paced editing by Veronique Lange, Upshot builds quiet tension with precision. Hailed by critic Panagiotis Kotzathanasis as one of the year’s best films, it won both the Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life and Junior Jury Award for Best Auteur Short Film at Locarno.

Arabic with English subtitles