Palestine Cinema Days arrives in Gaza

Participants attend the Palestine Cinema festival in Gaza. The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Participants attend the Palestine Cinema festival in Gaza. The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Participants attend the Palestine Cinema festival in Gaza. The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

the Palestine Cinema festival [Mohammed Asad – Middle East Monitor]

Participants attend the Palestine Cinema festival in Gaza. The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Participants attend the Palestine Cinema festival in Gaza. The festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The Palestine Cinema Days festival arrived in Gaza over the weekend having been launched in the occupied West bank city of Ramallah earlier.

The director of the Palestine Film Festival in the Gaza Strip, Wissam Mousa, said the films were shown in two venues: the French Cultural Centre and the Red Crescent Society Hall.

He said projectors are being used in both venues because there have been no cinemas in Gaza for almost 40 years, with younger generations never having been to watch a film on the big screen because of the occupation.

To encourage Palestinians from across the Strip to come to the premiers, festival organisers provided transport for those from the south of the Strip, Mousa said.

Taking place in a number of Palestinian cities across the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and Gaza City, the festival is showcasing 60 films, 22 of which are competing in the coveted Sunbird Award.

The Sunbird Award is a competition for short films, feature-length documentary films, and short film projects with a strong reference to Palestine.

Read: 5th Palestine Cinema Days festival launches in West Bank and Gaza

Four feature-length documentaries, 13 short films and five which have been submitted for the production category.

This year’s festival witnessed an unprecedented public turnout in different locations. The festival has also attracted over 60 international films from more than 20 countries including France, Germany, Canada, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Denmark, Norway, Serbia, the United States, Greece, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Chile and Palestine.