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The Palestinian experience has been a mainstay of global cinema for decades. Despite countless obstacles, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture has submitted 18 titles for the international feature Oscar<\/a> since 2003, earning nominations in 2006 and 2014. But this year, at a pivotal moment in its history, three films from acclaimed female filmmakers, each set in war-torn Gaza, are up for Oscar consideration: Annemarie Jacir\u2019s Palestinian entry, \u201cPalestine 36,\u201d Cherien Dabis\u2019 \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You,\u201d representing Jordan, and Kaouther Ben Hania\u2019s \u201cThe Voice of Hind Rajab,\u201d selected by Tunisia. It\u2019s a remarkable field, one that Jacir believes is more a coincidence than a reflection of the political climate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that there’s so many Palestinian filmmakers and people have been doing a lot of work for a long time,\u201d Jacir says. \u201cI remember when I made my last film, there were three films shooting at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n From the outbreak of the Arab revolt in 1936 to the generational trauma of the capture of Jaffa during the Arab-Israeli 1948 war to the current Israel-Hamas war, each film has a distinct and important story to tell. Notably, both \u201cPalestine 36\u201d and \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You\u201d were scheduled to begin production in Palestine just days after Israel began an aerial assault in October 2023 in response to the Hamas-led attack Oct. 7.<\/p>\n After struggling just to get the movie off the ground, Jacir says the real-time events made it difficult to \u201ckeep going emotionally, mentally, financially.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing was clear,\u201d she says. \u201cWe just didn’t know if we would really be able to shoot, if we would be able to start something, if we would be able to finish \u2026 We were just making it up as we went along and hoping for the best. It’s sort of a mix of, I would say, stubbornness and perhaps stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n Concurrently, Dabis had been prepping with a Palestinian crew for five months with the intention of shooting the entire project there, only to be forced to make the \u201cdevastating\u201d decision to shift production to Jordan, Greece and Cyprus. (Hopes of eventually returning were dashed.)<\/p>\n \u201cIn a way, the movie lived what most Palestinians live: war, exile, fleeing,\u201d she says. \u201cAll of the uncertainty, the financial and logistical crisis of it all. I think that what really grounded me during that time was just knowing that the movie was more relevant than ever, and that it had to get done.\u201d<\/p>\n The stark reality of the civilians under constant fire, and in a much worse position than Jacir, motivated her team to continue with \u201cPalestine 36.\u201d She bluntly observes, \u201cWe had no right not to, you know what I mean? It’s like we are the privileged ones, actually. We’re not in Gaza. It didn’t feel like it was an option for any of us to stop because they weren’t stopping and it was like, \u2018Well, we do it for them too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Depicting the humanity of the Palestinian people, who have suffered mightily under the current occupation, is one reason why Ben Hania felt such urgency in bringing the harrowing final hours of 6-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab to the screen less than a year and a half after her death under Israeli fire.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was something about silencing their voices [that] was completely abhorrent for me, and I know that cinema is the place for empathy and the place where you can put face and raise the voice,\u201d Ben Hania says. \u201cSo, for me it was part of saying, \u2018Stop this dehumanization of Palestinian victims.\u2019 You see the pain in this movie, you can feel the sense of what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite critical accolades and, in the case of \u201cVoice,\u201d a record standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, none of these submissions were able to secure major distributors in the U.S. \u201cVoice of Hind Rajab\u201d is being released by relatively new player Willa, while both \u201cPalestine 36\u201d and \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You\u201d are set for release by Watermelon Pictures, traditionally a production entity. (Oscar-winning documentary \u201cNo Other Land\u201d<\/a> was self-released<\/a> in cinemas and, last month, on streaming platforms.) Ben Hania says that is nothing new: Films about Palestine simply don\u2019t reach U.S. audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m frustrated because as a filmmaker, when you do a movie, you want everybody to see it, especially this one,\u201d Ben Hania says. \u201cSo, I mean, yeah, it’s a huge frustration, but I can’t put a gun [to a] distributor and tell them, \u2018Distribute my movie.\u2019 When you do movies, you have several obstacles, and this is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the hurdles, Jacir says she has never had so many people want to know the historical background behind one of her movies.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are curious,\u201d Jacir says. \u201cBefore people used to say, \u2018Oh, it’s very complicated and let’s leave it. I don’t want to know because it’s too complicated.\u2019 I don’t think people are like that anymore. I don’t think the new generation is like that anymore. I think people really want to know, and they want to see these stories and they’ll make their own judgments and thoughts, and they’ll have their own feelings about it.\u201d<\/p>\n