Some filmmakers tell stories, and some preserve entire histories through their work. Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir belongs to the latter. Across her extraordinary career, from Salt of This Sea to When I Saw You and Wajib, Jacir’s work comes from a place of honesty, an understanding of her people’s struggle, and a refusal to let their stories fade. And in today’s world, where truth itself is constantly under attack, her voice cuts through with sharp relevance.

While Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 centers on the uprising of 1936, it is rooted in the historical context of British rule, which began in 1917 when British forces captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire. The film traces the events that led to the 1936 Arab Revolt (also known as the Great Revolt, and later the Great Palestinian Revolt) when Palestinians first rose against British control and the increasing Zionist colonisation of their land. The film is a great reclamation of a stolen narrative, giving voice to a generation of Palestinians whose struggle for justice and self-determination has too often been overlooked in global histories.

When Britain arrived in Palestine, it came dressed in the language of “civilization” and “mandate.” But, as Jacir’s film unflinchingly shows, this was not diplomacy – it was occupation. By 1920, the British had taken control under the Mandate, and by 1936, they were already helping transfer land from Palestinians to incoming Zionist settlers. Administrative control soon turned into a system for dispossessing Palestinians. More than a historical account, Palestine 36 plunges viewers into the anguish and bravery of those who risked everything to resist.

Jacir brings the past to life in a way that matters now. She mixes together old archival footage with dramatised sequences so beautifully that the past and present form a single, enduring wound.

And here, we have Khuloud Atef, played powerfully by Yasmine Al Massri, a journalist forced to write under a male name to be heard. Her words become her weapon, her typewriter an act of rebellion. Alongside her, Saleh Bakri is Khalid, a farmer pushed to the edge by British oppression. Jeremy Irons appears as British High Commissioner Arthur Wauchope, his calm demeanour masking the cruelty of power. But the soul of Palestine 36 lies in its new faces. Ward Helou, as Kareem, and Karim Daoud Anaya, as Yusuf, give the film its beating heart. These are the sons of the soil – boys whose innocence is swallowed by the violence of empire. Daoud Anaya, in particular, is mesmerising.

Visually, the film is breathtaking. Jacir works with cinematographer Tareq Hammad to paint Palestine not as a ruin but as a living, breathing homeland – olive groves swaying against gunfire, sunlit stone walls holding the memory. The result is a film that feels monumental – not in size, but in spirit. It reminds us that the story of Palestine did not begin in 1948, nor did it begin in 2023. It started long before, when people fought to protect land that had always been theirs. The Great Revolt of 1936 was not a historical footnote; it was the first cry of a people refusing to disappear.

Jacir faces grief head-on but never lets it overwhelm hope. Her filmmaking is brave and caring, built on the idea that truth must be told, even when no one wants to hear it. As a Palestinian woman, she carries her ancestors’ stories with care and strength, turning film into a powerful witness.

One of the film’s most moving moments comes with the words of poet Saleem Al-Naffar (Gaza 1963–2023):

“From this small land, we grew.
Our river birthed creeds and bloodlines.
Our rhythm has always been—
die standing.
In spite of wretched planes and all that life fractures,
we remain.”

That is the heartbeat of Palestine 36. It is for those who stood, and those who still do. For those whose names were erased, and those who continue to write them back. Because Palestine existed then, and will always exist.

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Written by Maggie Gogler

Featured image courtesy of the BFI LFF

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