In the book A Biography of Palestinian Cinema: Limitations of Spaces and Characters, writer and film critic Saleem Albeik traces the development of narrative films made by Palestinians. It distinguishes between films that depict Palestine and the Palestinian cause, and those made by Palestinian filmmakers themselves. The book situates this cinematic history between two pivotal events in modern Palestinian experience, the First Intifada and the ongoing genocidal war.

It offers an overview of 57 Palestinian narrative films, framed by an introduction that reflects on the evolving national context and the ways cinema mirrors the political realities faced by Palestinians. Albeik focuses on a defining feature of this cinema, the limitation of setting and characters, linking it to the broader Palestinian story and its entanglement with the structures and strategies of settler colonialism.

The talk will be held in Arabic. To register, please fill out the form here.

Published in 2025 by the Institute for Palestine Studies with the support of AFAC (the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture).

Saleem Albeik is a Palestinian film critic, novelist and cultural editor based in Paris. He published 6 literary works including the novels Ain Al-Deek (Hachette Antoine-Nofal, 2022), Scenario (Al-Ahlia, 2019), and Two Tickets to Saffuriyya (Al-Saqi, 2017), as well as the book Reflections on Palestinian Cinema (The Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 2023).  Albeik is the founder and editor of Romman online cultural magazine.