Palestine 36

@ 1936. As villages across Mandatory Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is relentless. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region. The farmer-led revolt against British colonialism in 1936 marked the beginning of the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year rule. Palestinians from all classes were mobilized, and nationalistic sentiment spread in the Arabic press, schools, social and literary circles. The British, taken aback by the extent and intensity of the revolt, retaliated by placing Palestine under martial law, deploying over twenty thousand troops to Palestine, and still failed to control a population of less than one million people. Ships arrived loaded with tanks and machine guns. The Royal Air Force began strafing the countryside. Thousands of Palestinians were imprisoned, beaten, and the leadership exiled. The revolt lasted for three years and was arguably the largest and longest anti-colonial uprising in the British Empire. Featuring, among others, Hiam Abbass, Saleh Bakri, Dafer L’Abidine, Yasmine Al Massri, Billy Howle, Liam Cunningham, Robert Aramayo, and Jeremy Irons, PALESTINE ’36 began preproduction in January 2023, prepping a myriad of locations across the country, sewing and embroidering costumes and village dresses, collecting old props from all over, and renovating and restoring an entire village, including planting fields of obsolete crops, as well as building old British war vehicles and weapons – in what was the country’s most ambitious film to date with a team of hundreds. After October 7th, they were forced to shut…