In advance of Nottingham’s very first Palestine Film Festival, we spoke to the vice-chair of our city’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Iro Bagiantera, about what exactly attendees can expect from the event, taking place on Sunday 2 February at Nottingham Contemporary.
What is the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and how did you get started with it?
Palestine Solidarity Campaign is an organisation of members who are looking to fight for peace, equality and justice for the Palestinian people against the colonial occupation that Israel has placed them in since the 1940s. PSC is a national organisation and we are trying to do a variety of different actions to keep the Palestinian cause alive, such as large scale protests, cultural events and workshops.
Despite taking part in various pro-Palestine campaigns back in my home country of Greece, I really only got started with PSC since the beginning of the current genocide in late 2023. The organisation has been going for over thirty years, including the Nottingham branch, with some of the founders still active in the struggle today.
The film festival isn’t your first all day event, you did a Cultural Day back in November 2024, how did that come about?
The Cultural Day was a way to break out of just local level protesting and try something new to capture the cultural spirit of Palestine as a secondary way of resistance. It was a sold out day at the Nottingham Contemporary, and we had many people from a variety of backgrounds show up to experience a wide range of food, dance and music, which allowed everyone who attended to get directly involved.
So now you are organising the film festival, which is something we’ve actually discussed for a while, how long has this been in the works for?
Well we wanted to do something big, which has taken quite a lot of preparation, especially given that all of us members have full time jobs we are doing this around. We really took a look at a variety of other film festivals focused on Palestine, in places such as Leeds and Bristol, to get an idea of how to approach it.
For us it is a way of easily connecting people from Nottingham with Palestinian culture, but also there are so many Palestinian artists whose work we wanted to showcase and bring to audiences. This has really been an idea that has been cooking in our collective minds for over a year now. We are returning to the Contemporary and some of the staff have taken an active part in helping us organise the event as well.
Not only are we flesh and bone, but we carry landscapes, smells, foods, dancing, music and of course in this specific case, films. We are trying to return the notion that the culture of Palestine is rich and will not be forgotten about
What was the driving force behind doing a film festival?
A lot of it stems from how one of the main weapons colonial occupations use against the oppressed people is dehumanisation, which sees them trying to present the people they are attacking as barbarians or savages. This is mainly done to then justify or at least excuse the crimes they are committing against said groups. Showing art and culture from these oppressed groups helps combat these racist narratives that are overwhelmingly present in Western media.
Another reason is that one of the main components of a genocide is the annihilation of culture. In Gaza, not only are hospitals and homes targets of bombing campaigns, but universities, libraries and historical olive trees are being destroyed. Not only is there a physical extermination, but there is also a cultural one going on in Palestine at the moment too.
So part of it is about preserving Palestinian culture so no matter how much Israel tries to destroy it, it persists?
Exactly. Not only are we flesh and bone, but we carry landscapes, smells, foods, dancing, music and of course in this specific case, films. We are trying to return the notion that the culture of Palestine is rich and will not be forgotten about.
It’s really great to have a space where people in Nottingham can go and watch a variety of Palestinian films, something which seems to happen very infrequently.
Yes it often feels like a struggle to access these films, which you feel like should be screened far more given everything that is going on currently.
Many places are refusing to screen films about Palestine or actively making it difficult to do it. We have seen this in Bristol where the Palestine film festival at The Arnolfini was controversially cancelled out of the blue, although after campaigning, it has returned to the venue.
Yes this has been happening all across Europe, there have been awards, book presentations, musical acts, everything, cancelled due to artists’ collective support for the Palestinian people against the genocide.
What are the films you are screening?
Given that it is our first film festival, albeit hopefully not our last, we decided to go for films that are slightly older but still entirely relevant. We have broken them down into three different themes. The first one is about resilience and acts of freedom, which we will screen two short films: Walls Cannot Keep Us From Flying (2019) and One More Jump (2019), these are about how Palestinians use skating and parkour as a way of maintaining their personal freedom.
Life in Palestine serves as the second theme and for that we are screening a film called Wajib (2017); the purpose of this film is to dispel the myth that life in the West Bank is free from Israeli terror, highlighting the harassment and cruelty perpetuated through things like constant checkpoints and surveillance. Finally, the third theme is exile, and that will see a screening of It Must be Heaven (2019), which is directed by a Palestinian born in a refugee camp outside of their homeland.
Are there other events happening around the films?
Yes we are going to have group discussions led by members of the local Palestinian community between each film, this will hopefully allow for people to learn more about the films they watch, and they can then take that information into the screenings throughout the day. There will also be lovely vegan Syrian food provided at lunch time. All the profits from the festival are going to two amazing groups The Freedom Theatre in Jenin and Defence For Children International.
Any plans or ideas for the future of the festival?
We are hoping to grow the festival and make it longer, over multiple days. Also we would like to screen brand new films from artists currently working across Palestine. Being able to invite directors over, or have them introduce their films would be amazing as well. There is a lot to expand on in the future certainly.
The Palestine Film Festival takes place at the Nottingham Contemporary on Sunday 2 February. Tickets cost £20 or £15 for concessions and are available here. Free carer tickets are available with paid for tickets.
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