In this interview with The Film Verdict, Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi discusses his work and his enduring commitment to bringing Palestinian stories to the global stage. At the 45th Cairo International Film Festival, Masharawi’s latest film, Passing Dreams, highlights the journey of Samy, a young boy from a West Bank refugee camp, as he searches for his lost bird, offering audiences a glimpse into the daily realities of life under occupation.
Masharawi’s project From Ground Zero, a collection of 22 short films by Gazan filmmakers documenting the effects of the recent conflict with Israel, will also be screened as part of the festival. With years of dedication to Palestinian cinema, Masharawi reflects on the urgency of capturing these stories, which carry the weight of history, resilience, and the ongoing struggle for identity amidst adversity.
TVF: What was the motivation behind making your film Passing Dreams, and how do you look at it around 400 days since the start of the war in Gaza?
RM: For me it is very important to show films from before 7 October 2023. It means 7 October we had normal life, this what I want to show, as well as explain that our problems with the Israeli occupation did not start last year. Once you see this film, you see life and the checkpoints, and you see how people managed to live in Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as the refugee camps. Maybe this could be an explanation why there are always intifadas and wars.
TVF: You chose the character of the young boy to show all these changes and how difficult life is in Palestine. Can you tell us about your decision to create this character?
RM: It was difficult. But once the idea was to deal with dreams and the boy’s quest to search for his pigeon, the audience started to understand that the film is searching for something else, not the pigeon. Featuring a child was not easy from the point of view of acting, but children represent hope and the future, which is something I wanted. It also shows the difficulty of the whole situation, as at one point in the film the boy is asked what he wants to be when he grows up. He does not know.
TVF: You have made films that are directly dealing with politics and the struggle of living in Gaza like From Ground Zero. And you also make films that show your artistic and filmmaking abilities. How do you balance between being an activist for a cause and being an artist?
RM: This might take hours to answer. Passing Dreams is my ninth feature in my career as a filmmaker and artist. In parallel I was making documentaries in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon. Also I was dealing with tough situations and conditions, which I addressed in these documentaries. I finished the shooting of Passing Dreams and I was in the editing room before October 2023, so this project was a continuation of my films as a filmmaker. But usually when things happen in Gaza, where I was born and where my family and friends lived, I start to tell stories about this place, and trying to screen it internationally. This time after four weeks from October, the destruction was big and there were massacres. I decided not to do a film, but give a chance to the filmmakers who live there to tell their stories. I was the artistic advisor and used my connections with funds and festivals to be the bridge with these 22 filmmakers.
TVF: Can you tell us about the role you played in the From Ground Zero project. And do you consider yourself an activist more or a filmmaker more?
I am many things. I am an artist who loves cinema trying to come up with images and stories. I am a Palestinian citizen who wants to protect my country’s memory and heritage. I am a person who lost some of my family members and houses in this war. To keep going as a Palestinian citizen and a filmmaker, I wanted to play a role of allowing these young filmmakers to do whatever they want. In From Ground Zero, you will find films that are fiction, documentary, experimental, video art, or animation. So in this new project, we don’t just show the war and the suffering, but the audience can also see artists’ films and see this whole film as an experience. The film was screened in the sidelines of Cannes, and was selected in Toronto, and will be Palestine’s entry in the Oscars. It is not because we are the Palestinian victims who want to seek solidarity. We are trying to make cinema and protect this memory in many ways.