Al Fatah Palestina
Luigi Perelli, 1970, 79′
Italian and Arabic with English subtitles
This rare documentary retraces the early days of the Palestinian revolution, focusing on the Al Fatah movement. It shows the daily activities of the leaders in the refugee camps and illustrates the political organisation of the resistance, from the organisation of work and military training to the development of education, health and press infrastructures. Bringing together testimonies from political and military leaders as well as from the people themselves, the film offers a unique perspective on how the militants gave meaning to the revolution as it developed, inspiring a mass movement among the Palestinian refugee population.
Luigi Perelli is an Italian director and screenwriter born on 26 October 1937 in La Spezia. Perelli began his career in the foreign affairs office of the Italian Communist Party. His documentary Al Fatah Palestina responded to a growing interest in the Palestinian guerrilla movement among the Italian revolutionary left since 1968. The film consolidated a relationship built up throughout the 1970s between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Italian Communist Party’s audiovisual production company, Unitelefilm. At the time, young left-wing filmmakers, most of them recent graduates of the Centro Sperimentale de Cinematografia, helped develop productions imported from socialist countries, third world nations fighting against imperialist domination and various social movements around the world. After a brief career directing documentaries for Unitelefilm, Perelli worked for RAI, where he directed numerous television programmes, including several seasons of the famous series La Piovra.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Mohanad Yacubi, Omar Jabary Salamanca and Marianita Palumbo and then a time to have dinner together
The film is presented in partnership with United Screens for Palestine and the Audiovisual Archive of the Workers’ and Democratic Movement (Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operaio e Democratico).
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