They Do Not Exist,
A film by Mustafa Abu Ali,
Documentary, Palestine, 1974 ,24', AR/e
They Do Not Exist is is a stylistically unique work that explodes at the intersection between politics and aesthetics. It covers conditions in Lebanon’s refugee camps, the effects of Israeli bombardments, and the lives of guerrillas in training camps.
“In the late 1960s, a group of young Arab women and men devoted to the struggle for Palestinian freedom chose to contribute to the resistance through filmmaking, recording their lives, hopes, and their fight for justice. Working in both fiction and documentary, they strived to tell the stories of Palestine, and create a new kind of cinema.
These filmmakers included founders Mustafa Abu Ali, Sulafa Jadallah, and Hani Jawhariya. Others were Khadija Abu Ali, Ismael Shammout, Rafiq Hijjar, Nabiha Lutfi, Fuad Zentut, Jean Chamoun and Samir Nimr. Most were refugees, exiled from their homes in Palestine. Additionally, there were fellow Arabs who stood in solidarity with them, devoting their work to a just cause. Their films screened across the Arab world and internationally but never in Palestine. None of the filmmakers were allowed into Palestine, or what became known as Israel, let alone their celluloid prints.” —Annemarie Jacir, Coming Home: Palestinian Cinema, 2007.
✦ Artist talk: Joyce Joumaa
Joyce Joumaa is a video artist and writer based in Beirut and Montreal. After growing up in Lebanon, she pursued a BFA in Film Studies at Concordia University in Canada. Her work focuses on microhistories within Lebanon to understand how past structures inform the present moment. Central to her practice is an interest in the political charge inscribed in spaces and the social psychology that unfolds from this tension. Her current research revolves around the post-colonial education system in Lebanon and the maritime border conflict with Israel.
✦ Reading: Being in the Negative: An interview with Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, published online on Perpetual Postponement, 2020.
Film/BookClub is a series of screenings and readings by Les Complices* that focuses on feminist perspectives of the Palestinian struggle in relation to other international solidarity movements and liberation struggles. The series is a collaboration with other artists, groups, and spaces across Zürich. It was inspired by our friends and comrades, who have been relentlessly organising reading groups and film clubs over the last few months to create shared spaces for watching, reading, collective discussions and coming together.
✦ 1. May 2024, 19:00–21:00
✦ Location: Les Complices*, Anwandstrasse 9, 8004 Zürich
