16mm Films of Lebanon and Palestine from the 1940s through the 1980s
Land Day
- PALESTINE / 1983 / Arabic, Japanese / Color / 16mm / 48 min
Production: PLO SAMED Film Branch
Japanese Version: PLO Office, Japan
Source: National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Takaiwa Jin
On March 30, 1976, Palestinians organized “Land Day,” a general strike to oppose the forcible seizure of their land by Israel. The suppression of the strike by the Israeli military resulted in numerous casualties and arrests. The first demonstration of a united Palestinian resistance since the 1948 founding of the state of Israel, the struggle was a major step forward for Palestinian society. Participants bear witness to the events of that day.
Lebanon 1949
- MEXICO / 1949 / Silent (original sound lost) / Color, B&W / Video (Original: 16mm) / 48 min
Photography: Neif Jury
Source: Aida Jury
In the early 1900s, a family migrated from a mountain village in Lebanon to Mexico. In 1949, the family’s second generation, who run some movie theaters, take their children home to visit Lebanon. They bring a 16mm movie camera and go inside the Lebanese parliament and visit other sites, filming the recently independent country. They also record the landscapes of Syria and Palestine.
In cooperation with Cineteca Nacional, Project “Extensive Networks of Lebanese and Syrian Migrants” Sponsored by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
Lebanese Civil War
- PALESTINE / 1976 / English, Arabic / Color / 16mm / 65 min
Production: PFLP, Al-Mourabitoun
Japanese Version: “Palestinian Cinema Pro. For Solidarity, Japan”, Wakamatsu Productions
In 1975, a civil war began in Lebanon. Centering on interviews with the leaders of both Fatah and the secular nationalist movement, this film portrays the deepening war, as Beirut is decimated by shells and dead bodies line the streets. This propaganda film was produced by the PFLP and the Lebanese nationalist organization Al-Mourabitoun (the Independent Nasserite Movement), during the peak of foreign intervention.
Beirut 1982
(Beirut 1982 PLO tettai kara Palestina daigyakusatsu made)- JAPAN / 1982 / Japanese, Arabic, English / Color / 16mm / 19 min
Production: Nunokawa Productions
Source: Planet Bibliothèque de Cinéma
Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the PLO retreated after a three-month battle, leaving the Palestinian people behind. Though worn down by constant threat of attack, those remaining still smile for the camera. Then we see the sudden and tragic destruction of the everyday, with the terrible spectacle of the massacres at the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.
Events
Screening with Kodan (Storytelling) Lebanon 1949
A resurrection, by digital restoration, of a 16mm film documenting Lebanon just after its independence in 1949! This excavated home movie is presented with narration by Kodan storyteller Takarai Kinkan.
InterviewGood bye Schlöndorff—Audio Letters and Correspondence From a Faked War
and Ky Acoustic Concert
Lebanese rapper Waël Kodeih (aka Rayess Bek)’s Good bye Schlöndorff, that stole the show at Cannes (Visions Sociales) is coming to Japan in a special Yamagata-only version! There will also be an acoustic performance by Ky! The group’s members are Nakano Maki (Saxophone) and Yann Pittard (Oud, Guitar). Don’t miss it!
- Admission: 2,000 yen
Talk: Filming Stories of the Arab Peoples
An hour during which the audience members can address questions to the four directors, who are in Yamagata for the “Past and Future Stories of the Arab Peoples” program, in addition to Syrian journalist Najib El-Khash.
- Guest Directors:
- Hazem Al-Hamwi
Dalila Ennadre
Sean McAllister
Hind Shoufani