In 2013 a few movie lovers concerned with the plight of Palestinians, decided to make a database containing references to movies that show their real situation. Because who are those Palestinians? And how come they have to live in their home country - now largely Israel - as second-hand citizens or under military occupation, or as refugees elsewhere? Much is known, especially in the West, about the background of the origin of the state of Israel, but not about the consequences the establishment of this state had - and still has - for the original inhabitants: the Palestinians. In addition, Israel is conducting a successful PR war against the Palestinians in all kinds of media, including movies, in which the roles have been reversed with Israel as the victim and ‘them’ as the perpetrators. So, we thought it was high time to give more space to the Palestinian vision, including through the medium of film.
In September 2020 we succeeded to create this website for our database. Here you will find both documentaries and fiction films, and from shorts to full-length (feature) films. Not all recorded films are from a director with a Palestinian nationality and/or background. Many films have been made by other directors, including Jewish-Israeli. Our only starting point for whether or not to include a film title in the database is: does the film clarify anything about the situation of the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel? For each film title, the database supplies: name of director, duration and subject of the film, and year of release. The film titles are listed alphabetically, but the list starts with titles beginning with numbers (with a 1 as 1st digit, then with a 2, etc. etc.). A detailed description often becomes available after a click on the title, including a link to a trailer and/or a full version.
If you are looking for movies about a region, country, or group: just enter its name behind Search. Looking for movies about a more specific subject, a handy search method may be to enter a combination of keywords. For example, if you are looking for movies about ‘health care for women in Gaza’, enter: ‘health care’, women’ and ‘Gaza’. A list of movie titles will appear, in which you - possibly with the help of the longer description - can see what is to your liking.
Almost every week new ‘Palestinian’ films appear, and more and more film festivals all over the world will screen those films. See for this our ‘News’ section.
We do our best to keep the database up to date, but we still lack the necessary (wo)manpower. So the database will certainly not contain all films about the subject. If you want to cooperate or notify us of a missing title or necessary correction, contact us at: palcin@xs4all.nl. We hope this database will contribute to a greater understanding and sympathy for Palestinian efforts to live as equal citizens in their own country.
Enjoy viewing our database!
The Cinema Palestine Working Group
The Hague - Netherlands