‘Palestine 36’ Director Calls for Israeli Police to Cease Film Ban

“Palestine 36” director Annemarie Jacir is calling for Israeli authorities to cease actions banning her film, which depicts the historical roots of the Palestinian struggle, after police reportedly raided a screening in East Jerusalem and arrested the projectionist.

Jacir is denouncing in a statement that Israeli police last week abruptly shut down a “Palestine 36” screening in the Yabous Cultural Centre and Cinematheque in East Jerusalem where they “detained the projectionist and took him in for interrogation.” The Jan. 22 incident, which has been reported by Israeli media, was followed by “an official notice prohibiting any future screenings of the film along with a wholly false and baseless allegation that Yabous was screening a film promoting work by a terrorist organization — an accusation that is both factually incorrect and profoundly absurd,” the statement added.

It was not immediately possible to contact Israeli authorities for comment.

East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel during the 1967 War but is considered by the United Nations and most countries occupied Palestinian territory under international law.

“Palestine 36” is Palestine’s shortlisted official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards in the international feature category, but did not make the nominations cut. The film is scheduled for a limited U.S. release in New York and Los Angeles on Feb. 13 via Watermelon Pictures.

The hot-button epic, which premiered in Toronto, follows a young man named Yusuf who gets caught up in political upheaval as tensions rise in Jerusalem and his village amid British crackdowns prompted by the arrival of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe. It features a high-profile cast comprising Jeremy Irons as a colonial commissioner, Hiam Abbas (“Succession”), Liam Cunningham and Saleh Bakri (“The Teacher”).

“Palestine 36” is produced by Ossama Bawardi and Azzam Fakhriddin for…