Gaza: In the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, among the tents of the displaced, the International Return Film Festival opened its eighth session – the South African session under the slogan “Waiting for the Return, Return”; attended by a large gathering of intellectuals, directors, writers, heads of cultural and community institutions, and media professionals, amidst a large presence of displaced and homeless people living in the tents.
The festival activities began with a speech by Mr. Ibrahim Khashan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Human Development Association, the official partner of the Palestinian Film Forum in the eighth session, in which he stressed that Palestinian cinema began a long time ago and there were many attempts by the Lama brothers to make Palestinian films, but the British Mandate prevented them from producing films inside Palestine, which forced them to leave Palestine and establish a film company in Alexandria. He expressed his great happiness to hold a film festival among the ten
ts and under extremely difficult, complex and dangerous circumstances, but it is life that triumphs over the machine of war and destruction.
Film director Saud Muhanna, head of the Palestinian Film Forum and head of the festival, began his speech by welcoming the attendees and reviewing the goals of the festival for which it was established in 2009, and that the Palestinian Film Forum always works to create a new cinematic cultural state in all Palestinian territories, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
He added that the Palestinian Film Forum, in partnership with the Human Development Association in Khan Yunis, completed all preparations in a very short period of time, pointing out that the opening ceremony was held simultaneously between several countries, as the eighth session of the festival was also launched in Sydney, Australia, in partnership with the Australian Palestinian Care Association and under the auspices of the Palestinian Justice Movement. The festival activities were also launched
in Cairo in partnership with the General Union of Palestinian Women, Cairo Branch, and in Morocco, the opening was held at the Ayooz Association for Culture and Arts. The opening will take place in the West Bank in cooperation with the Tulkarm Municipality in the coming few days.
Muhanna said: The eighth session was launched under the name of the South Africa session in recognition of the role of the State of South Africa and its struggling people, who stood by the Palestinian cause and did not submit to Zionist pressures and filed a case against the Israeli occupation for its ongoing crimes in the International Court of Justice.
In his speech, the festival director, academic and director Youssef Khattab, director of the International Return Film Festival, said that the eighth session of the festival differed from previous sessions in the number of participating films, as the festival received 92 films from around the world, and that the number of participating countries this year reached 31 different count
ries worldwide.
In terms of the nature of the participating films, Khattab confirmed that the participating films dealt with many Palestinian national issues, the issues of return, refugees and Jerusalem, as the eighth session only received films that dealt with Palestinian national issues.
Director Youssef Khattab, director of the festival, pointed out that the festival launched several important awards, including: the Key of Return Award for the best film about prisoners, in the name of the martyr prisoner Walid Daqqa, as the martyr Walid Daqqa, a Palestinian prisoner who spent nearly two-thirds of his life in the occupation prisons and was martyred there due to medical negligence after being diagnosed with cancer, so it was necessary to honor him and immortalize his memory. Among the most important awards launched are:
– The Key of Return Award for the best film that talks about the right of return, in the name of the freedom fighter Nelson Mandela.
– The Return Key Award for the best film that talks a
bout the issue of Jerusalem, in the name of the late fighter Faisal Al-Husseini.
– The Return Key Award for the best screenplay, in the name of the late novelist Ghareeb Askalani.
– The Return Key Award for the best film that talks about humanity, in the name of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.
The festival included many artistic and heritage segments and the opening film, Al-Sultana, was screened by director Haitham Abdullah and starring Jordanian artist Juliet Awwad. The film, The Challenge, was also screened by directors Saud Muhanna and Youssef Khattab, which talks about the suffering of the festival management during the displacement period and from among the tents
Source: Maan News Agency