TORONTO — For the cast and director of historical drama “Palestine 36,” the excitement of having a world premiere at one of the world’s biggest film festivals was overshadowed by the ongoing destruction and killings in Gaza.
Palestinian-born director Annemarie Jacir and several members of the film’s cast lined the red carpet outside Roy Thomson Hall on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival wearing watermelon pins, a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people, while some donned keffiyehs and held Palestinian flags.
A couple of cast and crew members had the words “stop the genocide” written across their palms while one actor held a camera soaked in fake blood.
“I never imagined that I would be here to screen this film…during a genocide, the genocide of our people. Sharing this film makes it feel more important than it ever did,” Jacir said on the red carpet.
Set in 1936 Palestine, the film follows different characters as they navigate life during the British mandate. The project took eight years to make, Jacir said, and the film came with a number of logistical hurdles to film in the area. It also includes archival footage from that year, showing a bustling mix of peoples in Jerusalem after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the migration of European Jews fleeing under the rising Nazi party, and British attempts to colonize the area.
The movie enlists Hollywood veterans such as Jeremy Irons, as well as newcomers.
Saleh Bakri, known from Jacir’s previous TIFF films “Salt of This Sea” and “Wajib,” plays a portworker drawn to a rebel movement while straining to earn a living and support his family, while Irons portrays the British High Commissioner, Wauchope.
The film has been selected as the Palestinian entry for Best International Feature Film at the next Academy Awards.
For Jacir, showing the film at TIFF while the death toll continues to rise in Gaza amid mass starvation and violence under Israeli occupation prompts her own reflection that “our homeland is being annihilated.”
“As artists … we insist on continuing to make work, to tell our story, to not be disappeared and to do everything with love. It’s difficult because what is happening is so ugly and so awful and so dark,” Jacir said.
Zaid Ghazal, who also stars in the film and attended the red carpet with the words “stop the genocide” written across his palms, said that while he was looking forward to the premiere, the excitement is overshadowed by the ongoing war.
“I really feel super sad because we cannot celebrate. We see our civilians and our kids and our friends and families getting killed by the occupation,” the Palestinian actor said.
“It’s a really important and historical movie,” he said, noting it offers a rare glimpse of Palestine in the past and how the British mandate contributed to its occupation.
With the screening happening the day after Prime Minister Mark Carney toasted the festival’s 50th edition, Jacir said governments “must speak” about the ongoing devastation.
“We know that people are with us, (that) people see what’s going on. The governments have to take action. It’s now, it’s not two years ago. If they are not saying anything and stopping this genocide, it’s a complete failure on their part,” she said.
British-born actor Billy Howle called the world premiere a “deeply emotional moment.”
He hopes the film challenges audiences to ask more questions about Britain’s accountability for its mandate years in Palestine.
“Because of the (film’s) historical context, I think what we’re doing here is a historic moment for the people of Palestine and for Palestinian cinema. I’m immensely proud of that,” he said.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs through Sept. 14.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2025.
Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
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