We are proud to announce that the 29th Arab Film Festival will open on Thursday November 6th in San Francisco with Annemarie Jacir’s PALESTINE 36 – Palestine’s submission to the Oscars.
For the first time we are going to have two back-to-back screenings of our Opening Night film – Palestine 36 – at the AMC Kabuki 8 in San Francisco, the first at 6:30 pm and the second at 9:30 pm.
In 1936, the people of Palestine ignited a revolt that would become the longest anti-colonial uprising in British Empire history. In Palestine 36, acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir resurrects this buried chapter through the interwoven lives of villagers caught between empire, rebellion, and the dream of freedom.
Told through an ensemble of richly drawn characters, Palestine 36 paints an intimate, emotionally charged portrait of a society on the edge. From the streets of Jerusalem to the fields of Al Basma, resistance smolders in quiet glances, broken radios, and the rhythmic rituals of everyday life. Shot across Palestine and Jordan under extraordinary political pressure, this is a film forged in the fires of both historical and present-day struggle.
“‘Palestine 36’ resonates because it binds the personal to the political, showing how resistance emerges in both quiet and explosive forms. Jacir’s film reminds that history is not abstract, but lived through families and small moments of solidarity and conflict.” – Murtada Elfadl (Variety)
PALESTINE 36’s stellar international cast includes Hiam Abbass (Blade Runner 2049, Gaza Mon Amour, Ramy, Succession), Saleh Bakri (Salt of This Sea, The Time That Remains, The Blue Caftan), Yasmine Al Massri (Caramel, Pomegranates and Myrrh, Miral, Quantico), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones, 3 Body Problem, The Wind That Shakes the Barley), and Jeremy Irons (The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King, Watchmen, The Mission, Brideshead Revisited).
One of the first contemporary Palestinian films set in 1936 that embraces a high level of cinematic craftsmanship, Palestine 36 promises to fully immerse audiences in a visually stunning and emotional experience.
Arab Film Festival fans know Annemarie Jacir‘s work well. She has written, directed and produced over sixteen films and all three of her feature films have been selected as Palestine’s official Oscar Entry.
In 2007, Jacir shot the first feature film by a Palestinian female director, the acclaimed Salt of This Sea. Wajib (2017) won 36 international awards. Her short film Like Twenty Impossible (2003) was the first Arab short film in history to be selected in Cannes and continued to break ground as a finalist for the Academy Awards.
Her fourth feature film PALESTINE 36 is her most ambitious project to date.
PALESTINE 36 focuses on the beginning of the 1936-39 Palestinian uprising against the British, an incredibly important moment in history that is seldom talked about. To authentically recreate the time period, the film crew worked for months on renovating and restoring an entire village in Palestine, including planting fields of the crops that would have been cultivated at the time. Filming was set to begin in October 2023, with a crew of hundreds, but had to relocate to Jordan after the explosion of violence that month. Against all odds the team was able to return to Palestine in November 2024 to complete their work, after having to stop and start production four times due to the increasingly tense geopolitical situation.
PALESTINE 36 is the only feature film to shoot in Palestine in the last two years.
“Making this film is the most difficult thing I have ever done. When the genocide began, everything fell apart. Our people were being annihilated and we found ourselves trying to make a film about a dark moment in our history before we knew we’d be going through one of the darkest moments we have ever lived. We plunged into new depths, it felt like insanity. Sometimes we were broken. I lost count of the number of times production started and stopped. We kept going. The cast and crew came together to insist to make something, to pour all our pain into an act of love, to say to each other we will not be erased. The script, the story, the location, everything changed. One thing grew stronger. This film became an offering.” – Annemarie Jacir
Annemarie Jacir filming PALESTINE 36 on location
Jacir’s latest film is incredibly poignant, both epic in scope and intimate in the connection we feel with its characters. It premiered at TIFF and received a 15-minute standing ovation.
This is must-see cinema.
“This is my fourth collaboration with Annemarie Jacir, without a doubt our most difficult and most personal project. From the moment I read the script, it struck me as a film with the potential to become a classic — a cornerstone of Palestinian cinema. A film we hope will be shown to children in schools, one that speaks to every generation. A story that brings an untold chapter of history to light and challenges us to find meaning and love in everything we do — in the darkest times.
Together with a remarkable team of producers, we carried this film through its trials because we believe it stands for something greater: a film for those who love stories, who seek human connection, and for anyone who has ever claimed their freedom.” – Ossama Bawardi (Producer)
AFF2025 opens on Thursday Nov. 6th at the AMC Kabuki 8 in San Francisco. For the first time, we will host 2 back to back screenings of the film on Opening Night, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.
OPENING NIGHT: Palestine 36 – Palestine’s Submission to the 98th Academy Awards
Thursday, November 6 – AMC Kabuki 8 (San Francisco)
Directed by Annemarie Jacir, 2025, 115 mins
Palestine, France, Qatar, KSA, UK, Denmark, Jordan, Norway, US, Sweden, Australia
Tickets for Opening Night are available now (6:30 pm screening OR 9:30 pm screening), along with Festival Passes.
The full festival schedule will be released soon.
How can we know which films will be available virtually? I’m particularly interested in Palestine 36, but it’s a long way to S.F.
We will publish the full program this week and it will include the virtual program as well 🙂