Review: Palestine ’36
Year: 2026
Runtime: 1hr 59 min
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Writer: Annemarie Jacir
Actors: Hiam Abbass, Yasmine Al Massri, Karim Daoud Anaya, Robert Aramayo, Jeremy Irons, and Liam Cunningham
By Guest Reviewer Alexei Holloway
It would be hard to find a film more timely than “Palestine ‘36” (2026.) Written and directed by Annemarie Jacir, “Palestine ‘36” is a historical drama that immerses its viewers into the Palestinian perspective of the Palestinian Revolt of 1936.
The film follows the stories of three Palestinian families: Yusuf, Hanan, and Afra; Khouloud and her husband Amir, and Father Boulos, a Christian priest, and his son Kareem.
Yusuf, played by Karim Daoud Anaya, is from the fictional village of al Basma and finds himself torn between village life and city life. When Yusuf’s father is killed and his brother is arrested, Yusuf joins the rebels who live in the countryside. However, the rebel’s actions bring increased British scrutiny and raids to his village and threaten the lives of his family and neighbors.
Khouloud, played by the amazing Yasmine Al Massri, is a journalist writing under the pseudonym of Ahmad Canaanli because people will only read her articles if they believe she is a man. Khouloud is a firm believer in Palestinian autonomy and reports on the British army’s violent repressive measures and the Zionist settlers’ seemingly neverending stealing of Palestinian land. Her husband, Amir, is a landlord who believes he can retain his wealth and power if he works with the British and the Zionist settlers.
Father Boulos, played by Jalal Altawil, and Kareem are members of Yusuf’s village and the fact that they are Christian Palestinians who side with their Muslim neighbors flabbergasts the British.
The film’s greatest strength is its cast. Predictably, Jeremy Irons is the perfect face of British indifference to indigenous people’s rights and humanity and Robert Aramayo’s Orde Wingate is appropriately cruel and fanatic. Dhafer L’Abidine provides Amir, a man we should hate, with just enough charm to turn his character into a walking tragedy. The moment he realizes that he’s betrayed his people for nothing is one of the most haunting moments in a film full of haunting moments.
However, the true stars of the film are the female leads: Hiam Abbass and Yasmine Al Massri. Hiam Abbass’ Hanan is a loving mother with a spine of steel who does whatever she can to protect her family and land, even if that means helping a wounded rebel and hiding arms from the British. She is often left alone, weaponless and at the mercy of British patrols but never cowers or hesitates. She is the ultimate representation of the inner strength of every Palestinian mother, wife, and sister who has survived the worst anyone can imagine and still gets up in the morning to do it all over again.
Yasmine Al Massri’s Khouloud is, perhaps, the star of the film. She is absolutely charming, courageous, and powerful as the voice of the Palestinian people. As a member of the elite, she is often gathering secrets from British diplomat Thomas and insulting Wingate before leaving him to deal with matters of real importance. Although she knows Amir does not agree with her pro-Palestinian stance, she still loves him and never imagines he’d actually work with the Zionist settlers to sellout their own land. She is crushed by his betrayal but not broken and continues to fight for a free Palestine.
“Palestine ‘36″’s vast and complicated story combined with its two hour runtime creates choppy pacing, underdeveloped relationships, obscures the depth and brutality of the Zionist and British alliance, and prevents the full exploration of the many ideas it introduces. At the same time, what it manages to cover is both impressive and heartbreaking. While far from a perfect movie, it is an important film that tells the story of the carving up of Palestine from the Palestinian perspective; a perspective that has been overshadowed and suppressed for the last seventy years. The power of Palestinian voices is what makes this movie a must see.
#FemaleCharacters #FemaleDirectors #FemaleFilmmaker #FilmReview #History #JeremyIrons #LiamCunningham #Palestine #Review #RobertAramayo #WomenInFilm #WorldCinema
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