Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families - the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank.
He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free.
This film, by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists, was co-created during the darkest, most terrifying times in the region, as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.
Awarded Best Documentary at the Berlinale.
2024 / 96 mins / Norway, Palestine / English, Arabic, Hebrew
Followed by a panel discussion with:
Sarah Agha
Sarah Agha is an actress, broadcaster, writer and film curator. She recently produced and presented the inaugural series of The Arab Film Club Podcast which focussed on Palestinian cinema. As an actress she can be seen as a series regular in Channel 5's new period drama 'The Hardacres' and in the BFI / Film 4 feature 'Layla'. Sarah's written work includes multiple articles about Nakba representation on screen, Arab cinema and cultural resistance.
Nadia Nadif, actor/filmmaker
Nadia Nadif is an English, Irish Moroccan actor and film maker. She founded Untold Arts 10 years ago to create representation of women of colour she was not seeing in the industry and created and produced three new plays that were award nominated, transferred to off west end, and published, that have since been adapted for BBC Radio 4 and screen. She is passionate about creating a more equitable world and fighting oppression and set up the inclusion department at National Youth Theatre, creating the organisation’s first accessible auditions for learning disabled young people and has directed young performers from all backgrounds all over the UK. Nadia’s first experience of theatre activism was at Hull University in 2003 whilst the UK went to war with Iraq. Since then she’s worked with Amnesty International, Actors for Human Rights, Ice and Fire Theatre company, Young Roots and Refugee Youth. She regularly reads for grass roots organisation White Kite Collective and Az Theatre in London, and has put on two fundraising events in Folkestone for solidarity with Palestine and Sudan and one for the Willow Globe Theatre in Wales.
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso, cultural leader
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso is a cultural worker, curator, artist and activist from South Lebanon. She spends her time mobilising the arts and culture to take action on climate justice and the nature crisis, organising towards the liberation of Palestine, advocating for artistic freedom of expression, and collaborating with artists and communities in Gaza. She works with Julie's Bicycle, is a member of White Kite Collective, a mentor with Scottish Refugee Council, and a board member of Bookworks and Another Sky Festival.
Clare Jordan, International Organizing Director, Center for Jewish Non Violence
The Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV) brings Jewish activists from around the world to Palestine/Israel, particularly Masafer Yatta where this film is based, to join in Palestinian-led nonviolent civil resistance to occupation, apartheid and dispossession.
Trailer
Filmmakers - Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
+ The Medallion (19 mins) Director: Ruth Hunduma
A single piece of jewellery holds the story of generations.
Ruth was barely a teenager when her mother passed down a Medallion etched with the golden portrait of Nefertiti. Together, they go back to Ethiopia and explore her mother’s story as a survivor of the Red Terror genocide. Amidst a new civil war, the two revisit a country bursting with history and culture.
Trailer
