Show Notes
🎙️ In this episode of the Sumud Podcast, Dr. Ed Hasan sits down with acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir to discuss her film Palestine ’36 and the realities of creating under occupation. Jacir shares the challenges of filmmaking in Palestine, from restricted movement to rebuilding entire productions, and reflects on how the film became a testament to resilience and collective effort. The conversation explores identity, displacement, and the deeper themes of resistance and unity, revealing how storytelling becomes an act of memory and defiance.
🌍 Annemarie Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker who has written, directed, and produced over sixteen films, with premieres at major festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Toronto. Her work has broken ground, including her short film 'Like Twenty Impossibles' becoming the first Arab short selected at Cannes, and her debut feature 'Salt of This Sea' marking the first feature by a Palestinian female director. Her films, including 'When I Saw You and Wajib' have received numerous international awards, and all three of her feature films were selected as Palestine’s official Oscar entries. She is the founder of Philistine Films, supports independent cinema in the region, and directed her fourth feature film, 'Palestine ’36', which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was selected as Palestine’s submission to the Academy Awards.
🔑 In this conversation, we explore
→ The making of Palestine ’36 and why this story matters now
→ The realities of filmmaking under occupation and restricted movement
→ Rebuilding sets, navigating loss, and creating under constant uncertainty
→ Identity, exile, and the emotional weight of displacement
→ The role of cinema in preserving memory and resisting erasure
→ Unity across religious and social lines in Palestinian history
→ Storytelling as an act of survival, resistance, and defiance
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Opening clip: Filmmaking under occupation
01:00 Introducing Annemarie Jacir
03:00 Why Palestine ’36 and why now
08:30 The challenges of filming in Palestine
18:00 Loss, rebuilding, and production obstacles
32:00 Identity, exile, and personal connection
48:00 Cinema as resistance and historical memory
01:02:00 Unity, storytelling, and closing reflections
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