Apropos of, oh, nothing at all that might be in the news at the moment (Free Palestine!):
What are the best movies about resistance to oppression, repression, and colonialism?
The image illustrating this post is from, of course, 2006’s V for Vendetta, which felt slightly futuristic a decade and a half ago, and doesn’t, so much, anymore. (This movie was yesterday’s Daily Stream recommendation, which you could have gotten in your email in-box if you were subscribed to my Substack or my Patreon. I’m not being a vile capitalist pig about it, cuz you get them even if you’re on the free versions of either. But also while we still have to exchange capitalistically acquired cash for basic life services like food and shelter, you could help a gal out and join the paid side of my Substack or Patreon, too. If you’re in a financial position to do so.)
V for Vendetta feels terrifyingly prescient now, and I will stand by it as a good cinematic choice for fighting back against oppression. But I’ll also highlight the brilliant documentary Navalny, about the biggest thorn in the side of Russian asshole-in-chief Vladimir Putin, partly because Alexei Navalny seems just utterly delightful as a man, so funny and genuinely charming… which by itself, apart from Navalny’s actual activism against the seemingly humorless and dour Putin-the-despot, is so very telling.
Your turn…
(You can also discuss this at Substack or Patreon, if you prefer. You don’t need to be a paying subscriber to comment, but you will need to register with either site to do so.)
The inevitable, head-and-shoulders-above portrayal of political rebellion is THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS. Even V FOR VENDETTA, as good as it is, doesn’t touch it.
Now, I could write a great deal about the film, as, like all great films, it contains multitudes. But I’m going to restrain this to a fervent plea for folks to go see this, and see how well this sort of story can be dealt with.
Embarrassed to admit that I’ve never seen The Battle for Algiers, but it has been on my list of films to get to for my Classic Film Virgin series (which I must make a more concerted effort to get back to). I’ll move that higher on the watchlist…
For films that directly address the matter at hand, the Chicago Palestine Film Festival has recommended nine films with Palestinian narratives, all available on Netflix in the US (and perhaps elsewhere):
FARHA (2021) – about a young girl’s coming of age during the Nakba of 1948
THE PRESENT (2020) – about a father and daughter in the West Bank
3000 NIGHTS (2015) – about a Palestinian teacher who gives birth while in prison
EYES OF A THIEF (2014) – about “an enigmatic man bearing fresh wounds” during the Second Palestinian Uprising of 2002
SALT OF THIS SEA (2008) – starring Palestinian American poet Suheir Hammad as a woman who goes to Israel/Palestine to reclaim her family’s home and money stolen during the 1948 war
OMAR (2013) – about a baker turned freedom-fighter separated from his girlfriend by a boundary wall that he regularly scales to visit her
BORN IN GAZA (2014) – documentary about how the 2014 Gaza War affected the lives of ten Palestinian children
LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES (2003) – about a Palestinian film crew attempting to cross Israeli checkpoints
CHIILDREN OF SHATILA – 50 years after their grandparents’ exile from Palestine, two kids in a Beirut refugee camp document stories of loss and war
Details in their instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzJrQJeuwti/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
And there are more free films, short as well as feature-length, available to stream at their website:
https://www.palestinefilmfest.com/unprovoked-narratives
Thanks for these! I’m about to do a Daily Stream series about Palestine, and Omar will be on it (that’s the only one in this list that I’ve seen). I’ll check out the others.
More Palestinian films available for free online throughout December, via the Arab Film and Media Institute—including a science fiction trilogy:
https://arabfilminstitute.org/palestinian-voices/