Cinema as Resistance: Palestine will not be erased

In 2025, at a time when geopolitical tensions and narratives over land and identity are more contested than ever, three films submitted for the Oscars speak with uncommon clarity: Palestine will not be erased. These films—each by a woman director—do more than compete for awards. They reaffirm that Palestinian stories, voices, and existence will not be silenced, nor pushed aside by the forces of prestige or power.

The Power of the Oscar Submission

Submitting a film to the Oscars is not just about prestige. For many countries and communities, it is a rare chance to reach a global audience, to project identity, to assert (or reclaim) presence in the cultural circuit. When Jordan, Tunisia, and Palestine submit films that center Palestinian narratives, they are not merely competing for statuettes—they are asserting that these stories matter, that the world cannot ignore them.

In the current moment, where political erasure is a danger felt in very concrete ways, such cultural representation becomes a form of resistance.

Three Films, One Message

All That’s Left of You, Palestine 36, and The Voice of Hind Rajab each carries Palestinian life, memory, trauma, and refusal to invisibility into the global spotlight.

All That’s Left of You

Director / Writer / Lead: Cherien Dabis
Oscar Submission: Jordan’s entry for Best International Feature Film (2026)
Synopsis & Themes: The film tracks a Palestinian family across nearly eight decades. It begins in 1988, when a teenager is shot during a protest, and his mother—Hanan—recounts the events that brought them to that moment. The narrative arcs backward to 1948, telling of loss, exile, resistance, and memory. Production & Reception Notes: Originally slated to be filmed in Palestine, disruptions from war forced parts of production to relocate (Cyprus, Jordan, Greece). Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem have joined as executive producers, boosting visibility. Critics have described it as “an epic, deeply human film that spans decades… capturing the Palestinian Nakba with authenticity(…)”

Palestine 36

Director: Annemarie Jacir
Oscar Submission: “Palestine’s official submission” for Best International Feature Film (2026)
Synopsis & Themes: While full plot details remain under wraps in public sources, Palestine 36 is being framed as a historical epic. Variety comments that the film “binds the personal to the political, showing how resistance emerges in both quiet and explosive forms.”
Production & Context: The film stars a high-profile international ensemble, including Hiam Abbass, Jeremy Irons, Saleh Bakri, Yasmine Al Massri, and others.
It premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2025 under the Gala Presentations banner. Jacir has long been one of Palestine’s most visible filmmakers; that Palestine 36 becomes the country’s Oscar entry underscores the promised scale and ambition behind it.

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Director / Writer: Kaouther Ben Hania
Oscar Submission: Tunisia’s official Oscar entry for 2026 (though thematically centered on Gaza/Palestine)
Synopsis & Approach: This film uses a hybrid docudrama model, centering real audio recordings from a 2024 incident in Gaza. A terrified six-year-old girl, Hind Rajab, made a final call to emergency services after her family’s car was attacked. The film unfolds in and around the response call center, its staff, and the ethics and failures underlying attempts to connect to help. Its power emerges from restraint: no gore, no spectacle—only the voice, the silence, the urgency, and the failure. It asks a haunting question: if the voice of a child cannot pierce global indifference, what can?
Reception & Impact: At Venice Film Festival, The Voice of Hind Rajab earned a record 24-minute standing ovation and won the Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize). It has already been embraced as one of the most powerful Palestinian films of recent years.

©TNPP