Knights of Cinema: The Story of the Palestine Film Unit

by Khadijeh Habashneh, Samirah Alkassim (Translator)

This book consists of an account of the creation of the Palestine Film Unit (PFU) and its founding members, from the photography department in the early years of the Palestinian revolution (1967-1968), to its evolution in the mid-1970’s into the Palestinian Cinema Institution. Khadijeh Habashneh weaves her own memories into excerpts from letters and other communications of survivors, friends and PFU family members, with writings by scholars who analyzed the work and the contributions of this remarkable film movement (from the late 1960’s to early 1980’s). As such it offers a unique perspective on this aspect of Palestine film history that ended in the loss of its archive in the mid 1980’s, providing details that have not been previously published in English.

245 pages, Hardcover

Published June 9, 2023

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a captivating read. I can’t fathom the amount of cultural and historical materials that Israel keeps locked away, and the work that’s been done to assemble the history of the PFI and to document the many works of Palestinian cinema is amazing.

[Waleed · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Palestinian cinema, which is necessarily a militant cinema, is still in the
early stages of its development. Yet the least one can say is that it has taken
steps in the right direction towards transforming flm into a weapon added
to the arsenal of the Palestinian revolution and revolutionary movements
worldwide... the people's cinema must express the people's war."

Palestine film unit manifesto (1972)

These pioneers understood that to film was to resist. To document the struggle was to serve the struggle. For if our struggle is nothing but the reclamation of our dignity and humanity, then cinema by encapturing it ensures the preserveration of our humanity to eternal memory. Therefore, cinema is nothing if not revolutionary.

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

tropppo bello. pensare che c'era gente così dedicata che non solo faceva cinema ma rischiava la propria vita per la liberazione della propria terra. israeliani di merda ridate l'archivio cinematografico del pfu