Opening remarks by Dania Majid: “Joy is Resistance”
Toronto Palestine Film Festival 2024
September 25, 2025
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Ahlan wa sahlan. Welcome. And thank you for gathering with us, and with one another, for the 17th Toronto Palestine Film Festival. My name is Dania Majid and I am one of TPFF’s programmers and organizers.

TPFF is hosted on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabe, the Wendat and Haudenoshaunee. This territory is within lands protected by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant and we are grateful to be organizing, protesting and raising our collective voices for Palestine on this land. 

As we explore in our programming the wide-ranging effects of settler-colonialism on Palestinian land, it is important that we connect it with the settler-colonialism experienced by the traditional keepers of this land. We are deeply honoured and moved by the solidarity of the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island with the people of Palestine.  It was especially great to see this unity expressed at the Grassy Narrows River Run march last week. And this unity doesn’t need to be investigated, it needs to be celebrated! Indigenous and Palestinian communities will not be silenced anymore. The kids are alright …our politicians are not.

So what can I say to you, our community, when the news from Palestine and Lebanon is so bleak? Our world turned upside down since we were last in this theatre. We have been living through live-streamed atrocities that are beyond human comprehension. And let’s been honest, we really haven’t witnessed anything. We know many of you in this room have experience indescribable pain, and loss. We know many of you have the scars of anti-Palestinian racism under the armour you put on when you leave your home.  We also know how a cheery “how’s it going?” from a coworker can trigger rage. And we can’t respond “it really sucks”.  And we know with Israel’s vicious bombardment and ethnic cleansing campaign of Lebanon, it feels like things are even darker and more hopeless.  We understand what you are feeling, because we feel the same way too.

But here is the thing - you are here. And you are here for a reason. You know there are still good things happening, and places where you belong. And TPFF strives to be one of those places for you.

We ended TPFF 2023 on an incredible high and then the world came crashing down on us. And we were forced to ask ourselves very difficult questions…is this a time for art? Do we have the emotional capacity to plan a festival?  What will the world look like September 2024? Could this genocide even last that long?  And if it did, what would a festival in a genocide look like? Would anyone come? 

We didn’t have the answers, but many of the questions were answered by you. When we saw you on the streets or solidarity gatherings, we were asked over and over what is happening with TPFF 2024? It’s still going to happen, right? Will it be even bigger?

When we planned our Gaza Lives event – a tribute to the artists of Gaza – so many of you expressed how much you needed that event. So much so we ended up doing it 4 times.  But the wake-up call that came to us was amidst the doom-scrolling of devastation and human carnage were the videos of art and expressions of joy and the unstoppable Palestinian love for life coming out of Gaza. Palestinians were making cooking and music videos, clowns entertained kids who instinctively danced to their favourite songs, there were wedding videos, kids making playgrounds out of the rubble of their homes, teens seeking reprieve on the beach, and lots of seaside sunsets.

Each and every day Palestinians choose life. Joy is their resistance. Joy is resistance. Joy can exist with sorrow.  Palestinians show us this every day. We must honour this. And fight off despair.  Despair does not help Palestinians and will not help the Lebanese.  Despair is the occupiers’ weapon. Hold on to joy and resist despair.

And this is why solidarity is so important, it keeps isolation and despair at bay. In this moment, we have experienced so many incredible actions and acts of solidary – big or small the impacts are huge. TPFF has appreciated the outpouring of support from people who have shown up for us and the community in so many incredible ways.  This solidarity has been the fuel for our programming and organizing. We managed the impossible thanks to our community and allies.

So here we are… we are a bit broken and bruised but we are here. We are here – Publicly. Unapologetically. Uncensored. Authentically. TPFF 2024 exists for you. This year’s festival is an expression of love, care, comfort for you. It is an embrace we want to take you into and let you know there is a place for you here. We truly agonized over every decision to make sure our program and events were meeting you where you were – even though we are in different places.  We want to remind you of the beauty of Palestinian arts and culture that Palestinians are still creating even during genocide. We wanted to host events that rejuvenate you, physically and emotionally, because Palestinians need us to be strong and to keep up the struggle of ending 76 years of Nakba; and ending the attacks and ethnic cleansing in Lebanon.

To our Lebanese community members, we stand with you against the ongoing Israeli aggression.  Lebanon and Palestine have a bond, geographically, culturally, historically, and through its people – including my parents. The Nakba tried to sever these ties but the people remain united.  Our peoples once freely travel to Jaffa to Beirut to Jerusalem and Sidon. And we will once again. We want the Lebanese community to know this space is also their space. We will keep each other safe.  

This year’s festival has a special focus on Gaza. The film From Ground Zero features 22 short films by Gaza filmmakers made during the genocide. To My Father is an older film about a family of photographers from Rafah – the filmmaker Abdel Salam Shehada, managed to get out of Gaza and will join us after the film. Life is Beautiful is about a Gaza filmmaker trapped in Norway and the hardships of borders and visas. It screens with Vibrations from Gaza, a touching short featuring deaf children. 

Please check out our art exhibition in the lobby. Miracles were literally performed to get internationally famed artist Malak Mattar from Gaza and her 5 metre long mural into Canada. The exhibition also features Toronto’s very own Ibrahim Abusitta, who this past year was the anchor for the Gaza Lives events. Join Malak for an artist talk tomorrow, and Ibrahim on Sunday.

Also making her Canadian debut is the incredible singer and flautist Nai Barghouti.  Her passion for Palestinian and Arab culture permeates through her powerful and beautiful voice that touches the soul. Her voice is compared to greats like Fairouz and Om Khalthoum but she very much has her own unique sound of contemporary jazz instrumentalization she has perfected. Her concert tour Unheard is a tribute to the resilient and indelible spirit of the Palestinians in Gaza, and she has sold out shows across the Europe and the Arab world. Music is a universal language, and she will be providing some translations before her Arabic songs. If you don’t have tickets yet, you don’t want to miss this inspiring show. To ensure the concert is accessible to everyone we have an Unlock code: TPFFNB you can use too. See you all on Friday!

On Sunday, we close out the festival with a Vigil to mark one year of genocide that will feature music and poetry. All are welcome to join us before the closing night screening.

Throughout the weekend we have many excellent films and events. Famed poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha will be here doing a reading from her new National Book Foundation nominated collection of poems.  Also back is the always delicious Sahtain! Brunch at Petra restaurant. We also have a series for workshops for all ages: Malak Mattar will be doing a story time with kids, and we have tatreez and dabke workshops.  And because, we all might need some emotional care at this time, we have the Sumoud Support Sessions over the weekend with Palestinian therapists who will be providing education and group sessions. 

As a heads up, our closing night film Bye Bye Tiberias is close to selling out. And you should check out the other excellent collection of films. We have a trio of archival experimental films: R21 feature the archival revolutionary films from Japan; A Fedai film explores the destroyed PLO archives in Lebanon. And Lyd is a sci-fi film that uses archives from the Nakba in Lyd and imagines a future if there was no Nakba. We also have films exploring solidarity and resisting oppression: Space of Exception explores settler colonialism in Palestine and Turtle Island. And Toronto’s very own bh Yael whose world premiere of her film Letter to My Tribe – explored themes of solidarity, and Jewish identities. 

Remember if you can’t catch all these great films in theatre, most films are online too! And on your way to and from the theatre don’t forget to look up and check out our billboard at Queen and Augusta. It really makes that corner a lot nicer.

We hope that we have met and perhaps surpassed your expectations for this year with our program and space that we’ve created for you here.

None of this would be possible without your continued support. Thank you to all those who answered our call for support and made donations of all sizes. Thank you to all our amazing donors and sponsors, including the Ontario and Toronto Arts Councils, Government of Ontario and Gold sponsors: Foreclouds.com, Medical Aid for Palestine, and Petra Restaurant…. A big thank you to all our festival copresenters and promotional partners. A really big thank you to our advisorsand the formidable all volunteer TPFF committee who tirelessly grind to create this experience for you.  And most importantly thank you to our amazing audience for your solidarity with Palestine and support of our work! Together, we are creating a critical space in Toronto for us to breath, learn, educate, and envision a just Palestinian future.

We are excited to be opening the festival with The Teacher by Farah Nabulsi, and A Short Film About Kids by Ibrahim Handal.  We are excited that we have a Q&A after the film so join us for a heartfelt discussion with… you’ll have to wait and see.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s screening – Thank you for supporting Palestinian art and artists and supporting TPFF and each other.

And as my father, a Nakba survivor, still says, till this day… you will see, Palestine will be free! Good night!