"The Land Speaks Arabic"
Award-winning film followed by panel discussion on the Nakba
The screening of the film will be followed by a panel discussion with four present generation Palestinians, on what the events in the film mean to them today and the struggle for justice for all Palestinians.
This film tells the story of the background and build-up to the Palestinian refugee exodus of 1948 (The Nakba) showing the flight & expulsion of the Palestinians from their ancestral villages & towns as well as from what is now Israel. The film uses rarely seen archival footage of Palestine before 1948 together with historical research, eyewitness accounts and original documents dating back to the late 19th c.
Historical commentary during the film is by Prof Nur Masalha of St Mary’s University College in Twickenham and is based on his research.
"Rarely do Europeans get to hear Palestinians’ version of history during those dark years" comments Maryse Gargour
Covering the period from late 19th C until 1948, the film brings together rarely seen archival footage of Palestine before 1948, juxtaposed with historical research, eyewitness accounts (mainly by Palestinian refugees) and original documents. The testimonies of the refugees are supplemented by official documents and newsreels of the period.
Gargour unearthed rare photos in order to add a new form of historical record to the interpretation of that period in Palestinian history. She has said this was in part to reveal a new body of photographic work to contrast the record of events washed over by the volume of pictures broadcast daily about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"There are great injustices in this part of the world. I can't just stand by helplessly and not say something about this injustice – in other words the way the Palestinians were kicked out of their country,"
June 18, 2012
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