Researching Palestine
Films in the Five College Catalog
DVDs in the Du Bois Library can be found on the 9th floor. DVDs in the Five Colleges can be requested through the library catalog. There is a media viewing room in the Learning Commons of the Du Bois Library.
Instructors wishing to add streaming versions of these DVDs to their courses can use the services of the Libraries Course Reserves department.
Alezmen alebaqey [videorecording] = The time that remains / A the Film [and others] ; Michael Gentile and Elia Suleiman present ; produced by Michael Gentile and Elia Suleiman ; written and directed by Elia Suleiman. الزمن الباقي [videorecording]. by Call Number: UMass Amherst Du Bois Media DVD PN1997 .T576 2012Publication Date: 2012A humorous, heartbreaking film that explores life among the Israeli Arab community, shot largely in homes and places in which Elia Suleiman's family once lived. Inspired by his father's diaries, letters his mother sent to family members who had fled the Israeli occupation, and the director's own recollections, the film recounts the saga of the filmmaker's family in subtly hilarious vignettes.
Chronicle of a disappearance [videorecording] / Dhat Productions presents a film by Elia Suleiman. by Call Number: UMass Amherst Du Bois Media DVD PN1997 .C5574 2005Publication Date: 2005Provides a personal meditation on what it means to be Palestinian. Examines the effect of the political impasse in the Middle East on the identity of the Palestinian people.
Eid milad Laila = Laila's birthday by Call Number: Smith College Neilson DVD PN1997 .L351528 2009Publication Date: 2009'At eight o'clock, it's Laila's birthday, okay?' Palestinian judge turned cab driver Abu's wife reminds her husband. On his young daughter's birthday, Abu faces a nerve-wracking shift in a Ramallah yellow cab, armed only with an ex-jurist's misplaced pride, a father's loyalty, and a sticker reminding passengers that smoking and carrying AK-47's are prohibited.
It must be heaven / Rectangle Productions, Nazira Films, Pallas Film, Possibles Media, Zeyno Film ; in association with Doha Film Institute ; a film by/un film de Elia Suleiman.Call Number: On orderPublication Date: 2019In Elia Suleiman's first film for a decade, his alter-ego ES escapes from Palestine seeking an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him. The promise of a new life turns into a comedy of errors: however far he travels, from Paris to New York, something always reminds him of home. A comic saga exploring identity, nationality and belonging, in which Suleiman asks the fundamental question: where is the place we can truly call home?- Jenin -- Jenin = Janīn -- Janīn byCall Number: UMass Media DVD DS119.765.J46 2002Publication Date: 2002DVD
Lammā shuftak = When I saw you / Philistine Films presents ; a coproduction Asfari Foundation, Faliro House Productions, Tariq al Ghussein ; produced by Ossama Bawardi ; a film by Annemarie Jacir ; a film written and directed by Annemarie Jacir. لما شفتك. by Call Number: Amherst College Frost A-level Video PN1997 .L24974Publication Date: 2014
Milḥ hādhā al-baḥr [videorecording] = Salt of this sea / JPA Production presents a film by Annemarie Jacir. by Call Number: UMass Amherst Du Bois Media DVD PN1997 .M638 2009Publication Date: 2009Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Direct, stubborn, and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine. Slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it's illegal.
Private [videorecording] / Typecast Releasing ; una produzione Offside, Luci, Cydonia ; in associazione con RAI Cinema ; un film di Saverio Costanzo.Call Number: UMass Amherst Du Bois Media DVD PN1997 .P9615 2006Publication Date: 2006Mohammad, his wife Samia, and their five children live in a large, isolated house located mid-way between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement. Viewed as a strategic lookout point, the house is forcefully taken over by Israeli soldiers, who confine Mohammad and his family to a few downstairs rooms in daytime and a single room at night. Against Samia's wishes, Mohammad decides to keep the family together in the house until the soldiers move on, creating division among his family and a precarious relationship with the soldiers.
Zahra : a film by Mohammad BakriCall Number: UMass Amherst Du Bois Media DVD DS113.7 .Z34 2009Publication Date: 2009Mohammed Bakri narrates this personal documentary about his aunt Zahra Bakri. Mrs. Bakri was born and raised in the Palestinian village of al-Bane in the Galilee. The film takes us on a journey through Palestine's turbulent history and chronicles the effects of these unfolding events on Zahra and her extended family.- [Yadon ilaheyya] = Divine intervention : a chronicle of love and pain byCall Number: UMass Media DVD PN1997 .Y145 2005Publication Date: 2005DVD
Streaming films
Palestine Blues, directed by Nida Sinnokrot. 2008. Available through Alexander Street.
What is left for Palestinian farmers who learn that in 24hrs the Israeli Army will confiscate their lands for the construction of a Security Wall? What do people do when their very survival is threatened by one of the world’s most powerful armies?
PALESTINE BLUES by Nida Sinnokrot tells the story of a village’s confusion, desperation, and resistance, their daily victories and wrenching defeats. Unexpectedly filled with moments of poetry and humor, this film’s intimate access, unforgettable characters, and story structure blur the line between documentary and narrative.
Filmed at times with a hidden camera and at times under extreme duress, Palestinian-American filmmaker Nida Sinnokrot gives us a lasting chronicle of a people and their ancient life-giving orchards, ever threatened by destruction.
Bonboné, directed by Rakan Mayasi. 2017. Available through Alexander Street.
A Palestinian couple resorts to an unusual way to conceive as the husband is detained in an Israeli jail where visits are restricted.
Palestinian film screenings
- In New York City, Palestinian Cinema Returns to the ScreenKyle Turner writes about a film calendar kept by Yasmina Tawil, the director of Film Programming at the Arab Film and Media Institute.
