Coming to SPACE Gallery on May 15 – the East Coast premiere of So Much I Want to Say: A Glimpse Into Palestinian Erasure, a screening + performance lecture with filmmaker Zaina Bseiso followed by a community conversation facilitated by Maine-based human rights expert and playwright Fateh Azzam, Maine Coalition for Palestine.
About So Much I Want to Say
Today as we witness firsthand the abundance of power structures attempting to silence Palestinian voices, this screening and lecture/performance contextualizes the ongoing tactic of erasure. Hundreds of 16mm documentaries were made by the Palestine Film Unit and solidarity networks to portray the Palestinian struggle after the 1967 war. A large portion of those films were confiscated during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, making it virtually impossible to see and hear them. It is only through acts of solidarity and Palestinian resilience, exemplified by the organization Tokyo Reels, that we are able to access some of the films featured in this program, while many others remain locked in Israeli vaults, accessible only to vetted Israeli citizens.
This space of collective self-reflection will go beyond uplifting Palestinian voices. Borrowing its title from Mona Hatoum’s video art piece So Much I Want To Say, this program recounts a timeline of refusals by artists and collectives to remain silent, instead utilizing their tools to uncover Zionist infrastructure and contribute to Palestinian narratives.
This event is held on the 76th anniversary of the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic), a day that commemorates the ethnic cleansing and “violent expulsion of approximately three quarters of all Palestinians from their homes and homelands by Zionist militias and the new Israeli army during the state of Israel’s establishment (1947-1949).” As the present campaign of state violence unfolds in Gaza and the West Bank, we invite you to join us in reflecting on how we can build solidarity and contribute to the movement for self determination, equality, justice, and liberation in Palestine.
All proceeds from this event will go to the Gaza Soup Kitchen.
*Presented by Maine Palestine Film Collective
