film

In 1936, villages across British-Mandate Palestine rose up against colonial rule. With ever-rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year rule, all sides were spiralling towards an inevitable, multi-pronged collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the whole Middle East region.

Annemarie Jacir's Palestine 36 is a large-scale historical drama with an ensemble cast led by the Palestinian actor Karim Daoud Anaya, who plays Yusuf. He is a village boy who lands a job in Jerusalem with a liberal newspaper editor and finds himself moving between his village and Jerusalem as tensions escalate. There are fine performances from a list of other Palestinian actors, and also from Jeremy Irons as the British high commissioner, Sir Arthur Wauchope.