DUBAI: The Palestine Film Institute has unveiled the lineup of filmmakers and work-in-progress projects set to be showcased at this year’s Sheffield DocFest, highlighting a slate of stories centered on identity, memory and resistance.
Presented in collaboration with Sheffield DocFest and supported by the British Council, the annual PFI Showcase will take place on June 13 at the festival’s Creative Lounge in Sheffield, England.
Among the selected projects is “Different Colors of Sabir,” directed by Safaa Khatib and produced by May Jabareen and Maria Eugenia Lombardi. The Palestine-Italy co-production follows Khatib as she documents her family after her father, a prominent Palestinian political figure from the Galilee, is convicted of “incitement to violence and terrorism,” capturing both private moments and political resistance amid fears he could return to prison.
Also featured is “The Story We Broke,” directed by Gaia Caramazza and Jude Taha. The US-Jordan production centers on a Palestinian journalist at Columbia University struggling to balance professional objectivity with personal identity while covering a student movement that reflects her own search for belonging.
“Unboxing Gaza,” directed by Marta Miskaryan and produced by Alice Hughes, tells the story of a Palestinian artist who uncovers his grandfather’s forgotten photo archive from 1940s Gaza. The discovery evolves into an effort to preserve the memory of a city threatened by erasure.
Filmmaker and educator Saeed Taji Farouky, a member of the Palestine Film Institute who will attend the festival with the delegation, said Sheffield has long held symbolic importance for Palestinian filmmakers.
“The Institute’s delegation to Sheffield always has special resonance because of the city’s history of radical and popular mobilization for justice and liberation,” Farouky said in an interview with Deadline.
“Sheffield is the perfect partner to build up the Palestinian film industry with us, to find opportunities for these phenomenal filmmakers on an international scale, and to showcase the incomparable talent of Palestinian artists,” he added.
Outside the PFI showcase, several Palestinian projects will also feature across the wider festival program. Yasmin Fedda’s “To Make Things Grow” has been selected for the MeetMarket industry platform, while completed films screening at the festival include “Life Support,” “Landscapes of Memory” and “American Doctor.”
This year’s Sheffield DocFest runs from June 10-15.
