Palestinian movies have gained recognition and the attention of major film festivals and critics.
It has been announced that there will be 32 Palestinian films to be released on Netflix as of October the 14th. It’s a collection of documentaries and award-winning films. They’re either made by Palestinian directors or focus on telling the real stories of Palestine.
This marks a huge change in Arab works, and specifically Palestinian ones being streamed online.
The diversification of our content sits close to my heart as Netflix works to become the home of Arabic Cinema, a place where anyone in the world can access great Arab stories.
We believe that great stories travel beyond their place of origin, should be told in different languages and are to be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. With the ‘Palestinian Stories’ Collection, we hope to amplify these beautiful stories to a global audience. While these stories are distinctly and authentically Arab, the themes are quintessentially human and will resonate with audiences across the world – that is the true beauty of story telling.
Nuha El Tayeb, Director of Content Acquisition & Co-productions for MENA Netflix
Annemarie Jacir, the Palestinian director/filmmaker has 2 films that will be available on Netflix. The 2008 Cannes Film Festival nominee Salt of This Sea, and the 2012 Abu Dhabi Film Festival winner, When I Saw You.
The documentary Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (2001), documentary Children of Shatila (1998), and the film 3000 Nights (2015) by Mai Masri the Palestinian filmmaker will also be on the streaming platform. The director has 6 wins and 8 nominations to her name, which is enough to attract many viewers.
Mahdi Fleifel, the Danish-Palestinian director has 5 films that will be airing on Netflix. The director has 91 wins, and a Bafta Film Award nomination for his short film A Drowning Man (2017), which will also be available on Netflix. In addition to the short documentary, A Man Returned (2016), the short documentary 3 Logical Exits (2020), the documentary A World Not Ours (2012), and short documentary Xenos (2014)
Additionally, the director Elia Suleiman has a movie in his name on that list. The director/filmmaker holds 22 wins and 25 nominations to his name; 4 of which are Cannes Film Festival wins. His 2002 2-time Cannes Film Festival winner Divine Intervention will be available for streaming.
There are so many more movies, and they’re all 100% recommended to watch.
- Hany Abu-Assad’s 2005 Oscar-nominated film, Paradise Now.
- Raed Andoni’s 2017, Ghost hunting.
- Basil Khalil’s 2015, Ave Maria.
- Larissa Sansour’s 2019, In Vitro.
- Firas Khoury’s 2019 short film, Maradona’s Legs.
- Ameen Nayfeh’s 2017 short narrative, The Crossing.
- Rakan Mayasi’s 2017 short film, Bonbone.
- Arab and Tarzan Nasser’s 2013, Condom Lead.
- Jessica Habie’s 2013, Mars at Sunrise.
- Rani Massalha’s 2014, Girafada.
- Stefano Savona’s 2018 short film, Samouni Road.
- Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan’s 2014 documentary, The Wanted 18.
Starting from tomorrow, the Palestinian Stories Collection will be available to access by searching “Palestinian Stories” on Netflix.
This presents a great opportunity for film enthusiasts from all over the world to immerse themselves in the Palestinian narrative. All those films have something in common: they tell real humane stories. To educate yourself on what’s going on in a sister Arab country, spend your 14th of October on Netflix.
