The Colonial Film Gaze & Palestinian Counternarratives
[Presentation & Discussion]
Prompted by the recent discovery of a 1930s colonial film archive, Greek-Palestinian filmmaker Theo Panagopoulos investigates the role of film in creating a skewed biblical vision of pre-Nakba Palestine and the legacies of this today. Exploring how colonial powers have both appropriated and erased Palestinian archives, Panagopoulos examines how Palestinians are now repurposing colonial narratives through creative responses, including those developed in workshops with the Palestinian diaspora in Athens.
Presented by Theo Panagopoulos
In Frame is a series of satellite art projects running alongside the 2024 Athens Palestine Film Festival. In collaboration with EMΣΤ | The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Noucmas and Onassis AiR, In Frame brings visual culture and works from leading Palestinian artists to Greece for the first time. Drawing together a suite of art film screenings, artists talks and workshops, the In Frame program is inspired by the intricate and centuries-old cultural connections that bind Greece and Palestine. Curated by Greek/Palestinian cultural organization Dounias, and delving into issues such as connection to land, memory, gender, and heritage, In Frame is inspired by the recognition that Palestinian culture is very often spoken for, but rarely directly experienced. Focused on the significance of Palestine to our city and our communities, the In Frame program provides a fresh approach for understanding Palestine, placing its culture - in all its diversity - squarely in frame.