Mizna and The US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) co-present a double feature and panel discussion in honor of Land Day and Mohammad Bakri, featuring his films JENIN JENIN (2002) and JANIN JENIN (2024).

WHAT: A tribute to Mohammed Bakri: Land Day screening
WHERE: The Main Cinema, 115 SE Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55414
WHEN: Sunday, March 29, 12:30pm doors, 1pm screening.

There will be a ten-minute intermission in between the hour long screenings, followed by a Q&A with local artists and organizers. 

This event is free, but RSVP is required. Direct donations will be encouraged during the event to benefit the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA). Donte here

About the films

Jenin, Jenin • 2002 • Documentary • 55 min • Director Mohammad Bakri

March 2002: The Israeli troops have marched into the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin, razing the largest part of the camp to the ground and killing scores of civilians. Israel has been accused of committing war crimes, prompting the United Nations to assign an independent commission to visit the camp. But Israel has forbidden it.

Filmmaker Mohammed Bakri visits the demolished camp and interviews survivors of all ages. Men, women, children address the harrowing days they have gone through, the anger and fear that they have experienced, but also the sentiment of being completely left alone by the Arab and the international community.

Jenin, Jenin is dedicated to the memory of Iyad Samudi, the film’s executive producer, who was shot and killed after the production of the film was wrapped.

Janin, Jenin • 2024 • Documentary • 60 min • Director Mohammad Bakri

In his new documentary, Janin Jenin filmmaker Bakri returns to the Jenin refugee camp, twenty years after he made the first Jenin, Jenin. Both films weave together testimonies from survivors of Israel’s recent military operation and reflections on the continuing impact of the 2002 invasion. Giving voice to the people whose lives have been shaped by Israeli violence, Bakri’s documentaries provide a raw and deeply emotional look at the enduring occupation of Palestine.

About the filmmaker

Mohammad Bakri, born in 1953 in Bi'ina, Palestine, is a renowned Palestinian actor and film director. He began his career in theater, before starring in his first film in 1983. During his acclaimed career, he starred in many Palestinian and international productions, from television and animation to shorts and features––he is credited with over 70 titles. As a director, Bakri is known for his documentaries that capture the reality of Palestinian life and testimony, including 1948 (1998), Jenin, Jenin (2002), Since You’ve Been Gone (2005), Zahra (2009), and his final film, Janin Jenin (2024). Bakri is also father to six children, including well-known and celebrated actors Adam, Ziad, and Saleh Bakri. 

About Mizna

Mizna presents contemporary, critical, and experimental art, writing, and film centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. Mizna In 2026, Mizna celebrates the twentieth edition of our flagship program, and we mark this milestone by drawing on cinematic transmissions from our past festivals. We align this series with our broader 2026 film programming––Looking Forward, Looking Back––which confronts the visual record of SWANA cinema, including our own festival, demanding radical new meanings from the archive rather than a simple, sentimental look.

About USPCN

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) is a Palestinian and Arab community-based organization, founded in 2006 to revitalize grass-roots organizing in Palestinian and Arab communities in the U.S., as part of the broader Palestinian nation in exile and the homeland. The Minnesota chapter of USPCN is proud to work in coalition with other organizations fighting imperialist occupation at home and abroad and advocating for the freedom for all political prisoners.