‘Palestine 36’ Annemarie Jacir’s Anti-Colonial Triumph – Review

Palestine 36 Lead Image. Image Credit: Leeds Palestinian Film Festival.

Leeds Palestinian Film Festival concluded just over a week ago, filling the city with powerful, moving cinema, safe spaces for conversation and an inspiring sense of community and hope. One of this year’s standout films was Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s ‘Palestine 36’, which played to two sold-out audiences at Hyde Park Picture House. Set in 1930s Palestine, the film explores the lead-up to the Arab Revolt, as British colonial power, mass immigration and Palestinian resistance collide.

It’s hard to review something like ‘Palestine 36’ when it’s a miracle it even exists. It is an anti-colonial film, made by a Palestinian filmmaker and shot in Palestine, with multiple postponements due to the genocide. That feels more ambitious and impressive than most modern Hollywood blockbusters. To say that this film is a triumph would be the understatement of the century.

The Arab Revolt is a complicated era of history, but Annemarie Jacir is the kind of filmmaker who can present that history in an extremely accessible manner. Although ‘Palestine 36’ is brimming with facts and historical allusions that add context to the on-going violence in the region, it is a humanist film at its heart. It remains deeply rooted in the lives of its characters, their relationships with their community, their love for their people, and their enduring connection to their ancestral land. 

That’s what is unique about this history epic. Not only is it speaking to viewers who are uninformed about Palestine’s history, but it is a piece of Palestinian media that speaks directly to Palestinians too, reminding them that they belong to a brave, resilient people – something to be deeply proud of.

Palestine 36. Image Credit: Leeds Palestinian Film Festival.

Another one of Jacir’s strengths is her ability to give a deeply layered understanding of the situation’s complexity. She gave space to the internal conflicts and divisions amongst the Palestinians, and the spectrum of motivations among the British between outright psychopathy and naïve helpful idiocy. This isn’t some misguided ambiguity of morals, but rather a way to counter the inevitable dehumanization of colonialism, reminding us of the full lives of the victims, and the full violence of the attacker.

Some of the dialogue is slightly on the nose, but is papered over by fantastic performances. Perhaps this squareness also reduces the risk of alienating the viewer, something which is vital given that this might be a lot of people’s entry point to learning about the British colonial project. The archival footage helped drive home the sobering reality of Britain’s cruelty in Palestine, its use very well-timed and intentional. 

Whereas so many Hollywood examples reduce this region’s story to terrorism, ‘Palestine 36’ gives it the care necessary to remind us how that label is often used by oppressive forces to maintain their control. What Jacir manages to bring forth instead is an important text about the urgent need to unlearn Zionist propaganda.

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For all the latest updates and information on upcoming events follow Leeds Palestinian Film Festival on their website and Instagram.

For more on this year’s festival, read Millie’s interview with festival directors Frances and Helena, or her article on their collaboration with Artists Supporting Palestine.