CARTHAGE FILM FESTIVAL / IN CONVERSATION WITH MUAYAD ALAYAN 14/20 ARTAFRICA
checkpoints everyday. When you see soldiers and interact with them, you can tell those who want
to intimidate you from those who are there because the occupation is forcing them to be.
Your film is positioned in a way that challenges international preconceptions, whilst also
being able to communicate directly with local audiences. You’ve also been quite involved
with the development of cinema in Palestine. Can you tell us about your organisation
PalCine Productions and what motivated this project?
First it is necessary to explain cinematic production in general. The production of feature films
in Palestine has largely been co-productions, mostly with Europe, except for a few films that
were co-produced with the Arab world. Without that, we wouldn’t have had films in the 80s and
90s. We used to produce one feature every five years or so. Things got better fifteen years ago,
with a feature or two being produced every year (maximum). The problem with this model is that
it takes so long. Palestine has no sustainable public or private funding. There have been grants,
but not like the rest of the world, so films took five to seven years to be developed. You’re also
totally dependent on foreign financing, which puts you in a very weak position that can take
the film in directions that you, as the creator, do not want. There is this relationship where big
money starts deciding what the story is and how it should be developed.
PalCine Productions is a group of filmmakers, artists and musicians living and working between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is an attempt by us to be independent, to utilise the resources we
have available and develop stories that we know we can produce. As a result we have produced a
number of documentary and short films, allowing us to experiment with how much we can get
“I know many people who have not visited
their neighbouring town. They are stuck. If
you don’t know what the sea is then how
can you know that you need the sea?”
FEATURE / CARTHAGE FILM FESTIVAL