Join the Palestine Film Institute for reflection, renewal, and connection as we share key institutional updates, governance developments and program achievements along with our strategic priorities for 2026–2028. This presentation offers partners, supporters and collaborators an opportunity to engage with PFI’s evolving vision, strengthen relationships, and honour the collective work of sustaining Palestinian cinema as an essential part of a vibrant global cultural ecosystem.

For media inquiries, please contact: media@palestinefilminstitute.org

Why do European cultural institutions find the calls of refusal by Palestinian artists and their supporters so problematic? Why are the oppressed forced to justify using boycott—their only peaceful means of protest—to be heard? How can boycotts be implemented as  legitimate state policy (e.g., against Russia, Iran, or South Africa) but simultaneously condemned as censorship and discrimination when employed by Palestinians? Furthermore, how is boycott  a crucial political and ethical action in countering  genocide and imperialist domination?

The panel is proposed and moderated by La Palestine sauvera le cinéma, a collective of filmworkers committed to the cultural boycott.

Speakers: Aïda Kaadan, Eyal Sivan, and members of the collective La Palestine sauvera le cinéma.

Co-hosted with Film Workers for Palestine, this gathering offers a space for collective remembrance, reflection, and solidarity in commemoration of the Nakba the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in 1948. Together, filmmakers, cultural workers and allies will honor lives, histories and enduring resilience, connecting past catastrophe to the urgencies of the present in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, and affirming the role of cinema and culture in memory, witness, and the shared struggle for justice.

How do films find a language in a time of Genocide that goes beyond the saturated news footage? Visibility is key but risks dehumanising the very people whose stories we are telling. This Cross-regional solidarity initiative seeks to consolidate networks of filmmakers in times of profound upheaval. This Palestine Pavilion gathering highlights the work of Sudanese filmmakers with their newly released films and current projects in a space of discussion, networking and solidarity. The conversations will be led by celebrated Sudanese filmmakers Ibrahim Snoopy (Khartoum), Suzannah Mirghani (Cotton Queen), Mazin Gamar (The Militia & Me), and Sara Suliman (Heroic Bodies). 

This panel and reception that follows were made possible through the long term collaboration and ongoing support from IEFTF 

Lebanese cinema has long navigated the tension between archive and erasure, between memory and the urgency of now. PFI is committed to fostering solidarity across filmmaking communities facing crisis, and this Palestine Pavilion gathering brings Lebanese filmmakers together to share new work and works-in-progress — opening space for dialogue, connection, and collective resilience. The conversations will be led by Lebanese filmworkers.

South–South Alliances Panel: The shifting audiovisual landscape urges us to reflect on alternative means of production and distribution and how to forge meaningful South-South alliances that align with our realities of film production, circulation,  cultural exchange, expanding horizons and audiences in the current state of crisis. Leading film industry figures from South Africa - Southern Producers Accelerator initiative, Colombia – MUICA African festival in 5 cities. Burkina Faso – Fespaco and newly established film commission, Kenya’s – Doc A and Rough cut initiatives and Lebanon’s - Metropolis, will discuss possibilities and initiatives during these times of crisis. Speakers: Steven Markovitz,Salym Fayad, Alex Moussa Sawadogo, Mohamed Ouma and Hania Mroue. Moderated by Jihan El Tahri

The Durban FilmMart and the Palestine Film Institute have been collaborating consistently for the past three years, a partnership rooted in a strong commitment to film industry solidarity. The core objective of this collaboration is to ensure that Palestinian narratives have a crucial platform to engage with international partners and supporters, especially those from the Global South. As part of this ongoing initiative, the Palestine Film Institute will announce the three selected Palestinian projects for the Durban FilmMart during the event.