EXCLUSIVE: Mark Ruffalo, Diego Luna, Susan Sarandon, Riz Ahmed, Ava Duvernay, Mira Nair, Julie Delpy, and Ramy Youssef are among a raft of stars lending their support to a conversations season taking inspiration from and in support of Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36.
Entitled ‘Talking Palestine 36’, the conversations are a joint initiative between Philistine Films, Jacir’s company with Ossama Bawardi, and the film’s U.S. distributors Watermelon Pictures.
The feature, which is Palestine’s official submission to the 98th Academy Awards, explores the rarely explored story of the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in which Palestinians rose up against Britain’s colonial rule.
“We created this series to open space for deeper, nuanced conversation about Palestine and its history,” said Bawardi. “Palestine 36 is not just a film – it is a cultural moment. These talks aim to broaden that moment into a sustained dialogue.”
The ‘Talking Palestine 36’ series will roll out across multiple cities and online to ensure global accessibility. It will run throughout the film’s global theatrical release, with additional guests and event dates to be announced
The series will feature conversations, panels, and special appearances by Jacir alongside artists known for their commitment to human rights and social equity.
Each instalment in the series will spotlight a different facet of the film from creative expression under constraint to the global role of cinema in documenting the lived experience of Palestinians, at the same time as examining the roots of Palestinian resistance against occupation.
Palestine 36 stars Saleh Bakri, Hiam Abbass, Jeremy Irons, Yasmine Al Massri, Liam Cunningham, Karim Daoud Anaya, Yafa Bakri, Billy Howle, Robert Aramayo and rising names from across Palestine and the diaspora.
Palestine 36 world premiered in September and has since won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the Arab Film Festival in San Francisco, as well as the Special Jury Prize at the Asian World Film Festival.
The film made its official MENA premier at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival on Monday evening.