English & Comparative Literary Studies - Events Calendar

Come join us in what promises to be a convivial and engaging talk and discussion about Palestinian cinema, featuring the Palestinian novelist and film critic Saleem Albeik.

 

Abstract: The contribution is based on the author's recent book entitled Biography of Palestinian Cinema: Limitations of spaces and characters, published (in Arabic) by the Institute of Palestine Studies (2025), which narrates the story of feature films made by Palestinians from the earliest of these films to the time when this book ends, and falling between two axial events in Palestinian history: The “Stones Intifada” and the genocidal war. The book outlines the national context before commencing its story, regarding cinema as reflecting the political conditions of the Palestinians, while the Al-Aqsa [Second] Intifada also generated a transformation in that cinema.

 

Within the course of the narrative, the book critically examines a principal aspect of that cinema: the limitations of space and casting, ascribing these limitations to the course of Palestinian history and its subjection to colonialist settlement, its policies and institutions, and how these in turn affected casting and the chances of achieving the aims of a particular film. Limited space also led to limited casting opportunities. This constitutes a principal theme of the cinema of Palestinians, as argued here, though certain movies were exceptions that proved the rule. Thus, the number of movies in which some cast members rebelled against the limitations of space was in itself something that led them to liberating themselves, becoming dramatic figures who evolved along with the movie.

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The book discusses 57 feature films and attempts to show how each movie dealt with the presence of limitations and their five manifestations, dubbed the five Arabic letters with jim: Soldier (jundi), Jeep, Checkpoint (hajiz), Jail (sijn), and Wall (jidar).

 

Since the Nakba of 1948, the contemporary history of the Palestinians has been truly tragic, and catastrophes have elicited acts of heroism not lacking in tragedy. That history may be tracked through its various stages and various depictions of the population, the cinema being one such depiction. Furthermore, this book offers a history of that cinema within the historical context of the Palestine Question, attempting to present that history through its films.

 

The author: Saleem Albeik is a film critic and novelist. He published Reflections on Palestinian Cinema (2023) and A Biography of Palestinian Cinema: Limitations of spaces and characters (2025). He also published three novels: Two Tickets to Saffuriyya (2017), Scenario (2019), and The Eye of the Rooster (2022). Born to a refugee family and currently lives in Paris, where he writes a weekly column on cinema and culture in the newspaper Al-Usbu` al-`Arabi. He founded the cultural magazine Rumman and acts as its editor.