Al Jazeera Documentary Channel announced a series of screenings of documentary films under the title “The Story of Palestine”, which will begin broadcasting on Thursday in the Qatari capital, Doha.
The channel shows films produced by it or contributed to its production, including the film “Life is Sweet,” which won the Best Direction Award at the “EDFA” Festival earlier this year. Channel director Ahmed Mahfouz said in a statement: “We constantly strive to provide all forms of support for the Palestinian cause, whether through initiatives or through cinematic productions.”
The channel launched the initiative in line with its vision of the Palestinian issue and the space allocated to it in the production schedule, noting that there is another initiative that aims to complete the large umbrella of “The Story of Palestine,” which it has always presented on its screen. The initiative will be completed within the next program plan, so that it will be a prominent sign indicating “our support for the Palestinian cause by documenting the Palestinian narrative in order to convey their voice and suffering to the world.”
The network promised that during the coming period there will be “greater engagement with Palestinian cinematic projects to give them a wide space in production and co-production.”
The screenings begin with the movie “Another Leap,” which tells the story of Jihad and Abdullah, two young Palestinians who founded the “Gaza Parkour” team. Jihad still lives in Gaza, which keeps the team united and contributes to passing the banner to a new generation. As for Abdullah, he left Gaza and now lives in the Italian suburbs of Florence, trying to achieve a long-postponed dream. But the feeling of shame at himself for leaving the team does not leave him, and perhaps Jihad will not forget that for him either.
The documentary film “Abbas 36” is also shown at the Qatar National Library and tells the story of two Palestinian families who lived in one house during different eras in Haifa on Abbas Street 36. The obsession with the place has always accompanied the two families, as Israel displaced the Abu Ghida family from Haifa, and they were forced to leave the house. In the Nakba of 1948, I tasted displacement, both bitter and sweet, and was dispersed throughout the world in 17 countries.
The documentary film “Twelve Beds” will also be shown next week at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, as well as the film “Life is Sweet,” which narrates the journey of its director, Muhammad Jabali, who left Gaza in 2018 on a student exchange mission in Norway, before the crossing was suspended. Rafah al-Bari, Gaza’s only gateway to the world, for an indefinite period, which closed his way back to his homeland. Because of that exceptional situation, he became stuck in Norway, which refused him residency in the country.
