Palestine 36

This soul-stirring Palestinian entry for the 2026 Academy Awards dramatises the interconnected struggles of several Palestinian Arabs against British colonialism and Zionist settlements in 1936. Annemarie Jacir opens a window onto this lesser-known but crucial history that informs continued Palestinian resistance.

It is 1936: British colonial rule over Palestine has led to widespread discontent, largely owing to British support for Zionism and the allocation of land for Jewish settlements. In this moment, a spark ignites, and we are witness to the galvanisation of the Palestinian independence cause within very different people, locals and sympathetic British bureaucrats alike. Among them is Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya), a young man from the villages with growing revolutionary sentiment, and Khuloud (Yasmine Al Massri), the outspoken wife of a wealthy Palestinian journalist.

Annemarie Jacir (Like Twenty Impossibles, IFFR 2017; Wajib, IFFR 2018) uses this expansive web of characters to craft an ambitious historical drama of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine with the taste of a generational epic, and an ensemble including Hiam Abbass and Jeremy Irons. Rich production design contributes skilfully to the filmmaker’s ability to transport us seamlessly from the city to the countryside. As a clash of ideals and firearms between Palestinian freedom fighters and brutal British officers becomes inevitable, Palestine 36 unfolds through the uprising of everyday people and their struggle for autonomy and survival.

– Olivia Popp

Trailer

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