‘It’s Already A Historic Day’: Annecy Spotlights Four Animated Projects From Palestinian Creators

Separate from the traditional MIFA pitching events, this year’s Annecy festival spotlighted Palestinian creators trying to get their next projects off the ground.

Setting the tone for what would be an emotional session, host Mats Grorud began the panel by saying, “It’s already a historic day just to be here at MIFA representing Palestine. Already my head is spinning, and tears are filling my eyes, but I’ll try my best to stand in front of you and represent these beautiful projects we found in less than a year.”

What started as a mission to bring together the diaspora of Palestinian filmmakers has led a growing group to Annecy. Though all of the projects are in the very early stages, either in scriptwriting or initial storyboarding, the passion of each filmmaker was palpable, as was the audience’s desire to see them thrive. Here are the big takeaways from each project, all of which are looking for co-producers, financiers, and artists to help realize their visions.

Milad, The Birth of Walid

Directors: Ahmad Saleh, Basel Nasr
Type: Feature

This film adapts the story of Walid Daqqa, a Palestinian novelist who was imprisoned for 38 years for allegedly being affiliated with an organization that captured and killed an Israeli soldier. At the time, he was the longest-held Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail.

Saleh and creator Mats Grorud aim to tell his story through a dose of magical realism, making it more accessible for younger audiences. They imagine an ancient olive tree and a group of forest animals accompanying Daqqa during his isolation. Inside the tree are seven wish-granting seeds.

As Grorud explains, “The tree tells them that the seeds carry a secret. Use them with a good and pure heart, and they will guide you to the real meaning of freedom.”

The images shown had a distinct storybook feel, but Saleh and Grorud are using stop motion to bring their real-life folktale to the screen. The story weaves between real events and fiction, inventing a magical explanation for how Daqqa was able to marry and have children while in prison.

Riverkeepers

Director: Dana Durr
Type: Feature

Along with her 2020 short Mariam under her belt, Dana Durr teaches at Birzeit University, where the school’s first animation course has just launched. Riverkeepers is a 2D fantasy adventure set in rival Palestinian villages. Manor and Khaled are the story’s star-crossed best friends, living in separate villages while keeping their friendship a secret. Manor is a botanist who inherits her village’s tradition of serving as riverkeepers.

The story begins when, overnight, the water disappears from every river, forcing the characters to uncover what happened. According to Durr, many Palestinians associate water with a female spirit, making the rivers a sacred presence.

She said, “It’s about finding your identity even after losing your paradise. Somehow, you find it inside your family or ancestors.”

194

Director: Rami Abbas
Type: Short

The title comes from UN Resolution 194, which became a symbol of return for Palestinians. Adopted after the 1948 Palestine War, the resolution outlined a path toward settling the conflict and returning Palestinian refugees to their homes.

With this 2D animated short, Abbas wants to explore the idea of inherited exile.

As Abbas explained, “I was born outside of Palestine, and like many people of my generation, I grew up with fragments of memories that weren’t mine. Sometimes someone would ask me where I was from, and I realised I didn’t know the exact city.”

The short will be mostly black and white, accented by a few desaturated colors, and will feature no dialogue. The project is inspired by Abbas’ father’s experience of fleeing Palestine at the age of six after an Israeli militia attacked his village, forcing him to remain in Lebanon.

With the film, Abbas wants to explore exile not as a political idea but as a psychological condition that can be passed down from one generation to the next.

The Fear

Director: Rasmi Damo
Type: Short

Of all the films pitched, Damo’s is the one most closely tied to a personal traumatic experience. While the film is not a direct adaptation of those events, its central idea comes from one of the few times in his life he experienced genuine fear after being captured and tortured by the Israeli military 35 years ago.

Through paper cutout stop motion, Damo plans to tell an experimental, abstract story about a child encountering fear for the first time.

In the film, fear itself is depicted as an ephemeral presence that weaves in and out of the child’s life until the child learns to control and tame it.

Damo explained, “In cinema, we are often playing the role of the perfect victim,” and The Fear represents taking back control.

He added, “I don’t want to share my suffering. I want to share what I gained and learned from it.”