Co-founder and programmer Dania Majid explores the festival’s significance for the Palestinian community and its testament to the Palestinian spirit

By Lama Alshami

The 17th annual Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) wrapped up last month, leaving a powerful impression on viewers. 

Founded in 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, the festival now marks one year of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

With a vibrant display of Palestinian cinema, music, cuisine and art, TPFF strives to engage and inspire audiences within the Greater Toronto Area by spotlighting Palestinian narratives. 

At the heart of the festival is co-founder and programmer Dania Majid. I sat down with her for a chat where she reflected on the significance of TPFF, explored its impact on both Palestinian and non-Palestinian communities alike and discussed its role in bringing change to the world through art. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Could you describe your role as a programmer for the festival and what that entails?

My role involves putting together all the film programs for the festival. It involves a lot of research into circulating from the Palestinian arts and culture space and also a lot of inquiries into what our audience or community is, where they’re at, what they’re feeling, what their interests are and trying to make sure we bring a broad variety of content. Whether it be a wide range of films, music, food, art or literature, we make sure that we have a broad representation of that kind of content and that we meet each of the different groups within our audience and the different interests within our audience.

So, this year is a little different based on the ongoing genocide in Gaza. How did you select the films that are showcased this year specifically?

The process, for the most part, was similar to past years, in the sense that we have an open call for submission. But we do research to see what’s circulating in the festival world, because it takes a long time for films to be made. We had originally thought that we might not have a lot of films, or we weren’t sure if we would have a lot of films on Gaza, even though that was our hope. But especially with the ongoing genocide being so fresh and knowing that we were selecting the films produced months prior, we knew that there might not be any content that comes out of the genocide. 

We were actually really surprised that there were 22 films made by filmmakers who are in Gaza at the moment and made films during the genocide. So we were surprised that we were able to get that content for the festival for this year. 

We were able to get other films that spoke about Gaza from very different perspectives that just coincidentally, had been made prior to the genocide but were currently released in the market. Of course, we want to make sure that our stories are diverse. 

To make sure that the films were relevant to all Palestinians, we also included content that showcased what was happening in the West Bank, what was happening to Palestinians in 1948 and some archival footage. We were able to look at revolutionary cinema, from the 60s and 70s, as well as Nakba footage from the 40s to round out the narrative, the Palestinian narrative, through film.

You said you showcased emerging filmmakers from Gaza and also old films. How do you balance showcasing established filmmakers versus emerging voices from Palestine?

At the end of the day, it really comes down to the story, the quality of the film and its ability to resonate with the audience. Is it a unique perspective or is it a timely perspective?

Every year, on its own, coincidentally, we tend to have these themes that arise in the films that we program and it just comes together in an organic way where the right films just seem to find us at the right time. 

This older film, which we first programmed at our second festival, it partly came about because the filmmaker had reached out to us to say that he had managed to get out of Gaza and was currently living in Ontario. He wanted to contribute with us, and hearing that and remembering that film and the perspective it provided it still felt very timely. We really wanted to make sure that we had the voices of Gaza, where possible in person, reflected in the programming this year.

Are there any particular themes or issues you strive to emphasize in your selections this year?

Showcasing the voices of Gaza in all the different various art forms. There were a lot of films that featured children this year. There were a lot of films that talked about historical moments and used archival footage in their programming. It wasn’t really intentional to go the archival route, but it did come up.

I think at this moment when we are in a time of genocide, it’s also been a time to reflect back on our history all the way to the Nakba and see those patterns repeated. The films about archives had a particular timeliness to them. A theme that came up was solidarity. 

What impact does this festival have on the broader conversation about Palestine?

What we saw most prominently was the impact on the audience. One thing we heard that we had never really heard before at a previous festival is how much the audience needed this festival. They are coping with this ongoing genocide and people are coming in feeling very emotional, very upset, maybe depressed, unheard, dehumanized. They’re carrying the scars of anti-Palestinian racism that they experience daily for trying to advocate for Palestine.

In terms of the impact, what we heard was how cathartic and healing the festival was for them this year. They felt very safe to express themselves. 

Another impact that people said to us in leaving the festival was how uplifted they felt. That’s the best outcome we could hope for because the battle is long. The struggle is long. This ongoing genocide continues without abatement and we need people to be in the best place they can be in order to help pushback in the genocide. 

We also heard from so many people, not just this year but in past years, that so much of what they learn about Palestine, whether it be the occupation, the history and its culture, has come from attending TPFF.

We’ve gotten a lot of messages from people who said they brought a family member or co-worker with them to TPFF, and they reported back that a person who harbours hostility against Palestinians left the festival with a new perspective, and their negativity around Palestine lessened. They had a better understanding of the Palestinian position and how it differed from the information that they’ve been fed all their life

It speaks to the power of art to be able to change. They come in with negative views but they’re being welcomed by the Palestinian community in our space. So it really counters that view that we are a community that should be feared. 

When people come and spend time with us, they understand how warm and welcoming our people are.

What would you say is the significance of a film festival strictly for Palestinian voices that can’t be done at other festivals as well?

Well, we see Palestinian content being exhibited in all sorts of festivals or music venues. And we’ve seen that increase dramatically. But when we started in 2008, you couldn’t even say the word Palestine in public in Ontario. You rarely saw it stated publicly in a positive way. 

Now, with TPFF we have Palestine on a billboard on a major, prominent intersection. We have put Palestine at the forefront of the mainstream. 

TPFF is not just about showing a film. It’s about creating a community for Palestinians by Palestinians. We are doing advocacy work and solidarity work with our partners to address anti-Palestinian racism in our society, within art spaces. 

This is systemic work. It’s work that we’ve been doing for 17 years now. It goes beyond showing great artwork. It is about addressing the needs of our community, addressing the issues they want to discuss. 

Would you say TPFF is a form of resistance? 

Yes, I think it is our contribution to supporting the Palestinian movement and we are doing that through the use of arts and culture, but also creating the space to have discussions and make sure our culture lives on with the youngest of generations. 

TPFF is taking up those spaces and showcasing and bringing Palestine to different places and spaces across Toronto to make sure that we continue talking about Palestine and we don’t stop talking about Palestine; to remove the fear and stigma when we’re talking about Palestine. 

In what ways do you see the festival evolving in the coming years? 

Majid: We are going to debrief, reflect on the comments and the feedback that our audience, our artists and our community have given us and just make sure that we create something for them. We create that platform for them and we create that space for them and we fill the names they ask us. 

Could you share some highlights from this year’s lineup or what you believe were the most special films showcased this year?

You fall in love with the films. You fall in love with the filmmakers and their stories and what those protagonists feature in those films, whether they be documentary or fiction. It was very difficult to pick which ones were the standout. 

What was really interesting this year is that there were a lot of films that resonated with the audience for different reasons, because each of those films told different stories. 

At the end of the day, we were all taken aback by From Ground Zero and the 22 short films being made in the middle of a genocide. The number of people involved in making it happen was extraordinary. It came together so quickly in less than a year during the international festival circuit, and now as the Oscars submission for Palestine, it’s a testament to the resilience, aspirations and the hope and dreams of Palestinians. 

The 22 filmmakers are living the horrors that we watch on our screens and they dug down into themselves to be able to create these incredible stories. They were creative, they were insightful, they were powerful. And then film it, edit it and export it, without electricity. In the midst of bombardment. And amidst the fact that their family members were being killed. And somehow, they created these 22 really beautiful, really powerful pieces.

That film is really a testament to the Palestinian spirit and why we are still here today. And why we will be here tomorrow and 100 years from now. 

Regardless of what happens, we will be okay and we will rise again.