- published: 07 Oct 2011
- views: 7286
Palestinian cinema is relatively young in comparison to Arab cinema as a whole, many Palestinian movies are made with European and Israeli funding and support. Palestinian movies are not exclusively produced in Arabic and some are made in English, French and Hebrew.
The first Palestinian film to be made is generally believed to be a documentary on King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia´s visit in 1935 to Palestine, made by Ibrahim Hassan Sirhan, based in Jaffa(also spelled Ibrahim Hasan Serhan.) Sirhan followed the King and around Palestine, "from Lod to Jaffa and from Jaffa to Tel Aviv". The result was a silent movie that was presented at the Nabi Rubin festivals. Following this documentary, Sirhan joined Jamal al-Asphar to produce a 45-minute film called The Realized Dreams, aiming to "promote the orphans´cause". Sirhan and al-Asphar also produced a documentary about Ahmad Hilmi Pasha, a member of the Higher Arab Commission. In 1945 Sirhan established the "Arab Film Company" production studio together with Ahmad Hilmi al-Kilani. The company launched the feature film Holiday Eve, which was followed by preparations for the next film A Storm at Home. The films themselves were lost in 1948, when Sirhan had to flee Jaffa after the town was bombarded.