MCR Palestine Film Festival Programme

The Teacher (18)

Friday 10th May - 20:00 | The Savoy Cinema Heaton Moor | 118 Minutes | English Subtitles

Including Q&A with Director Farah Nabulsi

Q&A facilitated by Professor Anadi Ramamurthy, author of 'Struggling to be seen: The travails of Palestinian cinema'. The book explores the challenges Palestinian filmmakers confront to develop a cinema that gives expression to the national narrative.

Palestinian schoolteacher Basem (Saleh Bakri) grapples with personal devastation after a tragic incident involving his son. His life takes an unexpected turn when he forms a deep connection with Adam, one of his students, while also developing an unexpected bond with British social worker Lisa (Imogen Poots). Simultaneously, a high-profile American attorney and his wife seek the return of their son, an Israeli soldier held captive by a Palestinian resistance group. The group’s demand for a prisoner exchange creates tensions with authorities, intensifying the search for the soldier and drawing Basem and Adam’s neighbourhood into turmoil.

Oscar-nominated director, Farah Nabulsi weaves these disparate yet interconnected stories into a gripping drama that is marked by empathy, unexpected twists, and unceasing provocations, anchored by Saleh Bakri's power-house performance.

Trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpTGFy9x-ZM

Gaza Fights for Freedom (18)

Saturday 18th May, 20:00 | The Savoy Cinema Heaton Moor | 84 Minutes | English Subtitles

Including Q&A with Director Abby Martin (virtual session); facilitated by Mohammed Ghalayini, an atmospheric scientist and co-founder of Amplify Gaza Stories which works to support the resilience of people in Gaza through community led projects

Journalist/filmmaker Abby Martin begins this searing documentary with a recap of the historical factors that have brought the Gaza Strip to utter devastation in its present state of siege, with a trapped population plagued by poverty, food shortages, and ongoing rocket bombardment. “It looks like we are alive, but we are not,” states an unemployed man who lives with his wife and sixteen children in two rooms with access to electricity only four hours a day. The centerpiece of this film is you-are-there coverage of the Great March of Return in May, 2018, when thousands of frustrated Gaza citizens march peacefully to the razor-wire barricades, only to be randomly picked off by Israeli snipers. Among the hundreds wounded and the 59 dead is paramedic Razan al-Najjar, shot while trying to aid a casualty.

200 Meters (15)

Friday 31st May, 20:00 | The Savoy Cinema Heaton Moor | 97 Minutes | English Subtitles

A discussion with Dr Ruth Abou Rached and Dr Louis Brehony

Dr Ruth Abou Rached is a Lecturer in Arabic Cultural Studies for the Department of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Manchester. Dr Louis Brehony is author of the book Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance and director of the award-winning film Kofia: A Revolution Through Music. An independent scholar and writer on culture, aesthetics and resistance his work focuses on Palestine, Ireland and histories of anticolonial musicianship.

Two Palestinian communities in the West Bank, separated by Israel's separation wall, are barely 200 metres apart, where Mustafa and Salwa hail from. Salwa and their children reside in Israeli territory, while Mustafa resides on the Palestinian side of the wall. Eventually, Mustafa receives the phone call that no father wants to hear: his son has been injured and is in the hospital. After being refused admission through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa sets out on a journey to cross the border illegally in his determination to meet him. What starts as a 200-meter sprint quickly turns into a 200-kilometer journey. In an immediate tale of defiance, honour, family, and optimism, Palestinian filmmaker Ameen Nayfeh's first play shows us the mortal difficulties of everyday life under occupation.

Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhhF3Hr9bEw

About MCR Palestine Film Festival

The MCR Palestine Film Festival is a not-for-profit organisation established to raise awareness, educate and build respect of Palestinian culture and heritage through the medium of film. ​

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Social media, TV and online footage of Gaza’s devastation over the last few months has given us a glimpse of how Palestinian lives has been shattered. The MCR Palestine Film Festival will provide an opportunity to immerse yourself into their lives and their decades long battle for identity and self determination.​

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Whilst Manchester’s art and culture scene is vibrant, there is space to showcase the rich culture and heritage that Palestinians are proud of. And that is our mission. ​

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The MCR Palestine Film Festival is incorporated as a Community Interest Company (CIC) – company number 15612921. A CIC is a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders. ​

Supporting Palestinian Filmmakers

Watching a Palestinian film offers a deeply enriching experience that goes beyond mere entertainment.

As part of the festival, there will be speeches and Q&A sessions with film makers, screenwriters and Palestinians from Manchester. This will facilitate thought provoking discussions and deeper understanding of the films’ cultural relevance, themes and messages. The sessions will present alternative points of view and there is an opportunity to learn from those that were instrumental in making the films.

By choosing to support Palestinian filmmakers and their stories in cinemas, audiences contribute to the visibility and recognition of diverse voices in the global film industry, promoting cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.