queercinema4palestine on Sumud – Suomen Palestiina-verkoston järjestämä elokuvanäytös, jonka tavoitteena on ilmaista tukea maailmanlaajuiselle liikkeelle, joka ajaa palestiinalaisten vapautta. Tapahtuma haastaa haitallisen ”pinkkipesu”-narratiivin, jota käytetään oikeuttamaan Israelin suorittamaa kansanmurhaa ja etnistä puhdistusta palestiinalaisia kohtaan.
Näytöksessä esitetään vaikuttava valikoima lyhytelokuvia, jotka ovat queer-, palestiinalais- sekä heidän aatettaan tukevien elokuvantekijöiden tekemiä. Elokuvien kautta korostamme taiteen keskeistä roolia vastarinnassa ja vapauden puolesta käytävässä taistelussa.
Elokuvanäytöksen kautta ilmaisemme solidaarisuutemme palestiinalaisia queer- ja transyhteisöjä kohtaan, jotka elävät väkivallan ja häivyttämisen kohteina. Tämä näytös on vetoomus toimintaan – pinkkipesua ja väkivaltaa vastaan sekä Palestiinan vapautumisen puolesta. Käyttäkäämme yhteistä ääntämme vastustaaksemme osallisuutta ja vaatiaksemme oikeudenmukaisuutta.
– Lina Jarallah
Voit ostaa haluamasi hintaisen lipun teatterilta 5 euron, 12 euron ja 20 euron hintaisista vaihtoehdoista, tai vain noutaa ilmaisen lipun kassalta. Lisäksi on mahdollista antaa haluamasi suuruinen lahjoitus Sumudille.
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queercinema4palestine is a screening organized by Sumud – the Finnish Palestine Network, in solidarity with the global movement for Palestinian liberation. This event challenges the harmful “pinkwashing” narrative used to justify Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Through a powerful selection of short films by queer, Palestinian, and allied filmmakers, we highlight art’s crucial role in resistance and the fight for freedom.
By screening these films, we stand in solidarity with Palestinian queer and trans communities enduring ongoing violence and erasure. This screening is a call to action—against pinkwashing, against colonial violence, and for the liberation of Palestine. Let us use our collective voices to refuse complicity and demand justice.
– Lina Jarallah
You can purchase an optional ticket of your choosing from the theater from the following options: 5 euros, 12 euros and 20 euros. You may also simply ask for a free ticket from the counter. Additionally, it is may donate an amount of your choosing to Sumud.
Don’t Take My Joy Away
Age Rating: 12+
Directed by Omar Gabriel, 2024
Lebanon
Spoken language: Arabic
Subtitles: English
Length: 7 min
A visual and emotional meditation on joy, love, and resilience in the midst of occupation and the ongoing dehumanization of Arabs. The film follows two friends enjoying a moment of happiness, abruptly interrupted by a traumatic act of violence. It explores how Arab bodies and identities continue to claim space, dignity, and celebration, resisting systemic oppression and striving to liberate their bodies from layers of imposed violence.
A Letter to Myself (docuseries of the films below)
Age Rating: 15+
Directed by Omar Gabriel, 2023
Lebanon / Switzerland / Germany
Spoken languages: Arabic, English
Subtitles: English
Length:
Valerie
10 min
A letter to herself.
After enduring years of abuse from her husband, Valerie finally escapes with her queer son. In a conservative neighborhood, she leads a quiet revolution, fiercely fighting for her child’s acceptance and the right to live freely and authentically.
Domina
8 min
A letter to herself.
After years of abuse and bullying, she chose to protect herself by adopting a more masculine appearance and rough behavior, keeping others at a distance. Yet behind this armor lives a tender and beautiful heart, inherited from her Palestinian, paralyzed mother.
Soha Bechara
10 min
A double fight.
Following her long struggle for Palestinian liberation, Soha — an iconic figure of resistance — now faces a deeply personal battle: standing by her transgender son Khwam and fighting for his acceptance in a world still shaped by judgment and prejudice. At its core, freedom remains the driving force — both political and personal.
I Never Promised you a Jasmine Garden
Age Rating: PG-13
Directed by Teyama Alkamli, 2024
Canada
Spoken language: Arabic
Subtitles: English
Length: 20 min
Tara, a queer Palestinian woman in her late 20s, attempts to suppress her internal emotional turbulence during a phone call with her best friend Sarab, with whom she is in love.
Aliens in Beirut
Age Rating: PG-13
Directed by Raghed Charabaty, 2024
Lebanon / Canada
Spoken language: Arabic
Subtitles: English
Length: 16 min
Blurring truth and fiction, ALIENS IN BEIRUT finds alienation and desire at home through scripted improv, New Wave wildlife-esque cinematography and visual experimentation. Filmmaker Raghed Charabaty (who also stars in the film as ’Amir’) reimagines events from their life leading up to the fateful 2020 Beirut Port Explosion. Returning to Beirut from Toronto, desperately in search of roots, Amir falls in love with a stranger by the sea. In the end, the explosion cares for nobody – leaving behind traces of undeniable desire.
Learn the Arabic Alphabet in 28 easy steps!
Age Rating: General Audiences
Directed by Abgad Hawaz, Robin Riad 2024
Canada
Spoken language: Arabic, English
Subtitles: N/A
Length: 2 min
Robin Riad’s short hand-drawn analogue film ostensibly teaches the pronunciation of the Arabic Alphabet in 28 easy steps. In actuality, the hand-drawn letters were printed using a laser jet printer onto the optical soundtrack of 16mm film, and what you hear in the film is the projector reading the letters, and interpreting them into sound. Riad uses humour to play with and sit with her mother tongue, offering a ‘false’ lesson in pronunciation. A response to a digital form of anti-Arab hate that Riad witnessed online coming out of the genocide in Gaza, Abgad Hawaz is a way for her to hold close to her language, culture, and roots. (Written by Tara Hakim for TQFF)
Robin Riad is an experimental filmmaker, film programmer, and visual artist. Robin works with analogue mediums, and enjoys exploring the materiality of film in her work. She has screened in countries such as Canada, the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, India and more. When not making films, Robin spends her time teaching workshops, making potions in the darkroom, and volunteering at local arts organizations.