Toronto International Film Festival Looks at Palestine

The famed Toronto International Film Festival just completed it’s 48^th year in operation, and despite the absence of some of its special guests affected by the actors and writers strikes, TIFF seems to be recovering soundly after the pandemic that decimated the film festival circuit for years. Presenting hundreds of top quality films from every corner of the world, shown to one of the largest film festival audiences, while featuring in most cases post-discussions with filmmakers and actors, makes this one of the most thrilling cinematic experiences in the film world.

As one of the few credentialed press that have attended the festival from its very beginning, I can attest to the power and influence films have on peoples lives, especially documentaries and world cinema that allow viewers to experience events and places in the world, present and past, that few will ever visit in their lifetime. On a personal note, it has inspired my wife and I, along with many of our friends, to gain knowledge and take up travel to places in the world we learned about in film. Israel and Palestine are destinations that have become a commitment for life, and much of our determination to lend support to the struggle has been fueled by the many films we’ve seen that were created by committed artists.

Tragically, Gaza is in the news again where the whole world can witness the continual suffering of the Palestinian people, and consequently all Israelis. It’s in the world of cinema where writers, filmmakers, and artists of all type, bravely risk their lives to document the horrific realities and portray the stories that many in the West will never experience otherwise. Over the decades TIFF has presented unforgettable films that bring to life the Palestinian’s struggle to free themselves from Israel’s illegal occupation while living in a vicious state of apartheid. Gaza has been described as the largest open air prison in the world, 141 sq. miles packed with the most dense population in the world, where the actual governing State of Israel has total control of all air, land and sea entrances and exits, forbidding even one airport, or seaport. And you can add to that the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons locked up for demanding to free themselves from this oppressive occupation.

This year TIFF once again continues to provide unforgettable films about the Palestinian struggle. British Palestinian director Farah Nabulsi has quickly moved on from her Oscar-nominated short, The Present, to her riveting first feature, The Teacher, that had its world premiere at TIFF. It was shot in Nablus in the Occupied Territories and the story contains many of the real challenges Palestinians are forced to endure daily. The film stars Saleh Bakri, son of the famed Palestinian director/actor, Mohammed Bakri, who started his career in Costa-Gavras’s 1983 groundbreaking drama, Hanna K where Jill Clayburgh plays a lawyer defending a young Palestinian destined for prison.

Here Saleh plays a teacher, mentor and father who is devastated by the loss of his son, and transfers his energies to two of his most promising students, brothers Adam and Yacoub. He is conflicted by his commitment to political resistance and his emotional support for his beloved students while trying to balance a budding romance with a British social worker (Imogen Poots) who’s in town to help deal with the psychological traumas affecting young students. As is very common in Palestine, the family home of Adam and Yacoub is suddenly demolished by Israeli bulldozers without warning, as they stand watching their history being wiped out. Soon after, violent settlers attack the village to burn down their olive trees, the lifeblood of many Palestinian communities. In a desperate rage of fury, they attempt to stop them and Yacoub gets murdered by a settler. Adam seeks revenge while his teacher tries to stop him and the story gets more involved in the tragic realities that Palestinians face daily. This is a very moving and well made first film that reflects the headlines screaming from todays news media about Gaza. The actors offer a passionate and convincing depiction of the traumas they are forced to endure daily. The film has been bought by Front Row Entertainment and will be available on Netflix as early as January 2024.

One of the most important tasks of activism in support of the Palestinian struggle is to arm ourselves with truth and the historical facts. Western media propaganda fails to portray a full and accurate picture with it’s one-sided bias towards Israel. The brilliant physicist Stephen Hawking noted, “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance… it is the illusion of knowledge.”

Here’s a few recommended films about Palestine that have premiered at TIFF over the years, and offer the missing facts most of us are prevented from knowing.

They are all available to watch for FREE online:

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