TIFF Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Vibrations from Gaza

16 minutes
Rehab Nazzal
Documentary
2023
Canada, Palestine

SCREENING WITH: Life is Beautiful

English

"Vibrations from Gaza" is a short documentary that offers a glimpse into the resilience of Palestinian Deaf children in Gaza, who are enduring Israel’s siege and frequent military onslaught.

Toronto Premiere

Awards
San Sebastián Human Rights Film Festival, Spain, 2024, Saguenay International Short Film Festival, 2024, Numéro Zéro Film Festival, France, 2024

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Life is Beautiful

93 minutes
Mohamed Jabaly
Documentary
2023
Norway, Palestine

SCREENING WITH: Vibrations from Gaza

English

The young Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly is visiting a film festival in Tromsø in 2014, when the borders to Gaza close. He finds himself stuck in the arctic winter. Little does he know that it will be seven years before he can see his family again.While waiting for the situation to change, Mohamed’s friends back home tell him to seek asylum or get married to stay in Norway. But Mohamed refuses to give up his Palestinian identity and insists on being recognized for his work. After being denied a work permit after several appeals, despite his film Ambulance gaining international success, he decides to take his case to court backed by a growing group of supporters.  As this unfolds, Mohamed lives a parallel life online, staying connected with family in Gaza. They provide solace, but when Gaza is attacked again, Mohamed experiences the pain of being separated from his loved ones and is faced with an impossible choice: if he goes back to Gaza, he may never be able to leave again and continue his work as an acclaimed film director, sharing his stories with the world.Life is Beautiful is a story of overcoming a life put on hold by international politics and rigid bureaucracy, told from the inside by a director who uses all his creativity to connect with the world and forge a way forward.

Awards
Gilda Vieira de Mello Prize in Creative Documentary, FIFDH Genève 2024 The National Lottery Audience Award, Docville 2024 Best film, international competition, One World International Human Rights Film Festival, Prague, 2024

Learn More: Life is Beautiful

Co-Presented by:

Mayworks

Regent Park Film Festival

Cinema Politica

Watermelon Pictures

Arab Canadian Lawyers Association

TIFF Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Shattered Memory

14 minutes
Hayat Laban
Documentary
2023
Palestine

SCREENING WITH: R21 aka Restoring Solidarity

English
The documentary talks about the memory of photojournalist “Mahfouz Abu Turk” and the archive through which he documented the events he experienced in the city of Jerusalem and the West Bank from the first intifada in 1987 and the events that followed until the end of the nineties.

Canadian Premiere

Learn More: Shattered Memory

TIFF Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

R21 aka Restoring Solidarity

88 minutes
Mohanad Yaqubi
Experimental Documentary
2022
Palestine, Belgium, Qatar

SCREENING WITH: Shattered Memory

Documenting an overlooked movement of anti-imperialism between Japan and Palestine, the Tokyo Reels are collection of 20 16mm films. They were safeguarded in Tokyo by the Japanese solidarity movement with Palestine between the 1960s and 1980s. Into this stunning archive comes a reflection on the movement, known as Reel 21 – an undelivered solidarity letter written by a Japanese activist that was lost on its way to a Palestinian filmmaker. Fragments of the letter are found throughout the collection and compiled into an imagined structure that reveals itself during this powerful, meditative film.

Toronto Premiere

Learn More: R21 aka Restoring Solidarity

Co-Presented by:

Art Metropole

Re:assemblage

Pleasure Dome

Regards palestiniens 

Images Festival

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

TIFF Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Sultana's Reign

10 minutes
Hadi Moussally
Documentary
2023
France, Jordan, Lebanon

SCREENING WITH: Letter to My Tribe

English

Sultana of New York is a Palestinian drag queen, performer, and artist. "Sultana’s Reign" opens with a conversation with Sultana, as she is being painted by Jordanian artist, RIDIKKULUZ. Reflecting on her journey from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, to then New York, Sultana tells of the challenges of performing drag in conservative societies, her nostalgia for the glory days and the glamour of Egyptian cinema icons, and her struggle to prove her existence and her self-expression as a performer and artist. She also shares her love of celebration and her everlasting commitment to be true to herself.

YouTube

Awards
Queer Porto - International Queer Film Festival 2024, GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival 2024, FIRE!!, Barcelona LBGT Film Festival 2024

Co-presented by:

Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival

Toronto Queer Film Festival

TIFF Bell Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Letter to My Tribe

97 minutes
b.h. Yael
Documentary
2024
Canada

SCREENING WITH: Sultana’s Reign

English, translated Hebrew & Arabic

Letter to My Tribe started with a question: Why don’t more Jews and Israelis speak out about Palestine? Over many years my mother, who represents a more messianic perspective, and I have had numerous arguments, some recorded, some not. These form the backbone of this video essay in which Israelis and Jews, journalists, activists and a rabbi are interviewed, and in which documentation of actions on the ground, in the West Bank, are woven with more personal family histories and journeys to Iraq and to Poland.

World Premiere

Post-Screening Discussion: Reflections on Solidarity

After the screening the film’s director Yael, will joined by Mohammad Yassin (Occupy U of T) for a short discussion on solidarity with Palestinians - and will reflect on their own work as activists and they have worked to build solidary and lessons learned from their activism.

bh Yael is a Toronto based filmmaker, video and installation artist. She is Professor of Integrated Media at OCAD University, past Chair of Senate and past Assistant Dean. Yael’s films and installations have dealt with the many intersections of identity and family; it has focused on activist initiatives in Palestine/Israel, as well as apocalypse, geopolitical and environmental urgencies.
Mohammad Yassin is a Palestinian organizer with family in Gaza and a recent graduate from the University of Toronto. As a student, he worked to push UofT to divest from and cut ties with institutions that propagate the genocidal Israeli regime. During OccupyUofT's encampment at the People's Circle for Palestine, he took on the role of media spokesperson and was a member of the negotiation team that met with the university's administration.

Learn More: Letter to My Tribe

Copresented by:

Jewish Faculty Network

Faculty for Palestine

V Tape

Jews Say No To Genocide

United Jewish People's Order

Queers for Palestine

Film Workers for Palestine

Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre

Independent Jewish Voice Toronto

SAVAC

Toronto Queer Film Festival

OCADU Arts and Social Change

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Palestine Islands

22 minutes
Nour Ben Salem and Julien Menanteau
Short fiction
2023
Palestine, France

SCREENING WITH: Lyd

Arabic with English Subtitles

Maha, 12, is part of the last generation of Palestinian refugees from the Balata camp. Following a fainting by her blind grandfather, she imagines a crazy project: to make him believe that the wall of separation has fallen and that a return to his native land is possible. With the help of her friends from the camp, the young girl imagines a fun trip for him...

Featured Cast
Sama Idreesi, Kamel El Basha, Leen Saleh, Toleen Al Risheq, Mohammad Idreesi

Canadian Debut

Awards
Unifrance Short Film Award

Learn More: Palestine Islands

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Lyd

79 minutes
Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland
Sci-Fi Documentary
2023
Palestine, United Kingdom, United States

SCREENING WITH: Palestine Islands

The film Lyd (the Arabic name of Lod, a city now in Israel) is about a 5,000-year-old bustling Palestinian town that was conquered when the State of Israel was established in 1948, and the film Lyd is the story of that city’s rise and fall. An exploration of what it once was, and what it is now, in the context of the continuing conflicts and the war in Gaza, Lyd’s excavation of one community’s complex history offers us not only lessons but possible futures. As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion, while vivid animations envision an alternate reality where the same characters live free from the trauma of the past and the violence of the present. Using never-before-seen archival footage of the Israeli soldiers who carried out the massacre and expulsion, the personified city explains that these events were so devastating that they fractured reality, and now there are two Lyds — one occupied and one free. As the film cuts between fantastical and documentary realities, it ultimately leaves the viewer questioning what future should prevail.

Awards
Jury Award for Arab Feature-Length Documentary and FIPRESCI Award from the Film Critics Association, Amman International Film Festival 2023; Melbourne Science Fiction Film Festival 2024

Learn More: Lyd

Co-Presented by

Parkdale High-Park for Palestine

JAYU Festival Canada

University-Rosedale for Palestine

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

de-clutter

18 minutes
Rimah Jabr
Short Fiction
2023
Canada

Screening as a part of Homegrown Shorts collection

English

In present-day Nablus, amidst the confines of a home masking an ant nest within its walls, Aya, a
depressed young woman, is faced with a life-changing scholarship offer to study abroad and caught
between the enticement of her dreams and the weight of potentially abandoning her lonely mother. As the discussions about the persistent acts unfold, long-suppressed emotions start to surface. Through the lens of these seemingly insignificant creatures, Aya and Lamia find a channel to express their true feelings, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of each other’s struggles and desires. “De-Clutter is a poignant exploration of the complexities of familial love, sacrifice, and the unspoken burdens we carry.

Rimah Jabr is a theatre director, playwright, screenwriter, and Ph.D. candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University. She holds a master’s degree in theatre-making from RITCS in Brussels. Rimah has written and directed several plays produced in Belgium, Canada, and Palestine. She frequently collaborates with visual artists to create performances and has co-written feature films and shorts. Her short film De-Clutter (2023), developed with the support of Cinephilia Productions and produced during a residency at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF), marks her debut as a filmmaker. The film has won three awards and has been selected for various short film festivals.

Featured Cast
Amani Ibrahim & Roula Said

Canadian Premiere

Awards
Cambridge Short Film Festival 2024 (Selected) (Online festival) Edinburgh Film Awards 2024 (Winner) Brussels World Film Festival 2024 (Winner) Independent Shorts Awards February 2024 (Winner)

Learn More: De-Clutter

Co-presented by:

Trinity Square Video (TSV)

Director of Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC)

MENA Film Festival

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

Stitches

Deena A. Alsaweer
2024
Canada

Screening as a part of Homegrown Shorts collection

Arabic with English Subtitles

When news breaks out that wedding dresses are banned from entering Palestine, Kareem's world is shaken up. His spunky niece, Hind, convinces him to go on a mission to disguise and smuggle the wedding dresses as conspicuous packing wrapping for shishas (hookah) into Palestine.

Their plan takes a poignant turn when a news update reveals that the trade embargo was the start of another war, leaving Kareem to rebuild not just his shop but also his sense of joy and community. With a mix of humour, cultural nuance, and a touch of bittersweet reality, this short film explores the beautiful power of human connection and the resilience of the Palestinian spirit.

Deena Alsaweer is a Fulbright Scholar with an M.A. in Film/TV from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Since leaving her career in International Logistics a decade ago, Deena has gone on to win several best screenplay awards and has worked with a range of production companies on TV, digital projects, and films for broadcasters such as TVOKids, CBC, Unis TV, Hallmark, and Bell Fibe TV1. What drives her art is being a passionate champion for underrepresented voices.

Featured Cast
Sam Awwad Marianne Laver Ivana Khadaj Hussain Dawwas

Canadian Premiere

Learn More: Stitches

Co-presented by:

Trinity Square Video (TSV)

Director of Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC)

MENA Film Festival

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

the poem we Sang

Annie Sakkab

20 min
2023
Canada

Screening as a part of Homegrown Shorts collection

Arabic with English Subtitles

The Poem We Sang is a 20-minute, colour and black and white, experimental documentary that meditates on love and longing - the love of one's family and the longing for one's home, contemplated through overcoming the trauma of loss of family home and of forced migration, transforming lifelong regrets into a healing journey of creative catharsis and bearing witness.

Annie Sakkab, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Canadian, is an independent filmmaker and photojournalist. She seeks long-form narrative with a focus on women’s issues, identity, and social justice. Her first short documentary Hollie’s Dress had its World Premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2020 and was created in collaboration with The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Her second short experimental documentary, The Poem We Sang examines Intergenerational trauma and post-memory in the context of Palestine.

Learn More: The Poem We Sang

Co-presented by:

Trinity Square Video (TSV)

Director of Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC)

MENA Film Festival

Lightbox 350 King St W, Toronto, Cinema 2

TPFF Home Grown Shorts

60 minutes
Various
Short Films
2024
Canada

English

TPFFl is proud to present original work by local Palestinian filmmakers. The films were developed, workshopped, filmed and produced through the 2024 TPFF Film Residency, in partnership with Trinity Square Video. After an exciting year-long process, TPF presents the world premieres of these incredible films:

Stiches by Deena Alsaweer

De-Clutter by Rimah Jabr

The Poem We Sang by Annie Sakkab

World Premiere

Learn More: TPFF Home Grown Shorts