18th Arab Film Festival

Saturday, September 28 at 5pm

ABOUT THE FILM

Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families—the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free. This film was co-created by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists during one of the darkest, most terrifying times in the region as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path toward equality and justice.

FILMMAKER BIOS

Basel Adra is a Palestinian lawyer, journalist, and filmmaker from Masafer Yatta. He has been an activist and documentarian since 15, fighting against Israel's mass expulsion of his community.

Rachel Szor is an Israeli cinematographer, editor, and director from Jerusalem.

Hamdan Ballal is a Palestinian photographer, filmmaker, and farmer from Susya, and he has worked as a researcher for several anti-occupation human rights groups.

Yuval Abraham is an Israeli filmmaker and investigative journalist from Jerusalem.

PRESENTED BY MIZNA

Celebrating 25 years in 2024, Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. For more than twenty years, we have been creating a decolonized cultural space to reflect the expansiveness of our community and to foster exchange, examine ideas, and engage audiences in meaningful art.