Khalid Tawalbeh
Doha
A virtual dialogue session, held on Wednesday with the jurors of the 10th Ajyal Film Festival 2022, discussed Palestinian artist and cinematographer Saleh Bakri’s visions about the huge challenges actors suffer under Israeli occupation.
During the session, Bakri spoke about his experience in the film ‘Costa Brava’, by director Mounia Akl, in Lebanon, describing it as a wonderful and rich experience, despite facing great difficulties to do it.
He said he lives in Palestine, and cannot move freely because he is Palestinian living under the occupation, which imposes its passport on him, adding he has to hold a passport that he didn’t choose, and have to be a citizen of a country that he didn’t want.
Bakri indicated that this puts restrictions on his travels to the Arab world, he expressed that it is very difficult, if not impossible for him and his colleagues to travel to Lebanon and Arab countries, adding he had to apply for a passport from the Palestinian Authority to travel to Lebanon, and as soon as he returned, his passport was confiscated by the Israeli authorities.
“It saddens me not to work with my Arab brothers, Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese and Iraqis. I don’t see any differences between us. I do not recognise the boundaries between us. We have one culture, despite the precious diversity, but we are deprived of this diversity and of working together,” Bakri added.
Palestine’s artists, and film and theatre actors are stuck between a hammer and an anvil because they are “guilty until proven innocent”, Bakri described the situation. “It is a very unpleasant situation to constantly live in the shadow of an accusation. We have proven ourselves in cinema, poetry, literature, art and music”.
“Those who refuse to work with us are the losers, we just lose the opportunity to communicate with our brothers and sisters,” he lamented.
On the role of the Doha Film Institute, Saleh Bakri lauded their efforts describing their work as “brave and great”, especially in supporting independent cinema in the Arab world. Regarding his future plans, he hoped to play the role of one of the historical figures, who has a complex personality and represents a golden period in history. “We must honour our historical figures through the arts and cinema.”
On the Ajyal Festival and its jurors, Bakri praised this experience and the deep understanding shown by the jurors. He likened the Ajyal Film Festival to a rare platform that gives all dreamers an opportunity to express themselves. He added: “It gives the younger generation an important voice, and this initiative should be appreciated. I was impressed by the fact that the young new generation is familiar with our work, especially independent cinema, and the efforts of Arab filmmakers”.
Bakri built a worldwide popularity through several films including “Wajib” by director Annemarie Jacir and “The Present” by Farah Al-Nabulsi, he said that the constant struggle has made him tired and exhausted, but he will not give up his dreams. “It is a long and difficult road to freedom”.
He showed optimism about the future of Arab cinema, adding that things are getting better, the works presented by Arab filmmakers are distinctive, Arab cinema is growing, and “we see evidence of this because we make great films that leave a global impact”.
Over eight days, the Ajyal Film Festival presents a programme of feature films from around the world with the participation of more than 613 jurors from various countries.
