PALESTINE 36 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF)

A poignant and powerful film demonstrating the reach of the British Empire, and tracing the legacies of devastating colonialism and Zionism that can still be felt today.

Palestine 36, Annemarie Jacir

Palestine 36 (2025) is a poignant film that stands out for its magnification of Zionist British colonial rule in Palestine, rather than solely villainising the Zionist Jewish population. It explores a wide range of characters and perspectives, tracing the legacies of colonisation in villages, urban elites, and among those who worked with Zionists, convincing themselves it was a path to peace. 

Echoing The Battle of Algiers (1966), the film shows how rural villages often endure the harshest attacks. It offers a broad yet powerful view of lives shaped by this history with a scene where stamps, from across the world bearing the British king’s head, serve as a memorable metaphor for the empire's reach.

At the heart of this narrative are two children who simply want to play on their land; their innocence in contrast to the adults whose lives have been devastated and caught in the crossfire. AnneMarie Jacir directs this intense, heartbreaking film which lays bare the impact of British colonialism and Zionism on every layer of society, and most painfully on families, tearing apart homes, structures, and relationships to ironically look after a “people without land.”

Free Palestine.

★ ★ ★ ★

Release Date: September 5th 2025 (TIFF)
Director(s): Annemarie Jacir
Written: Samuel Cohn Cousineau, Zacharias Zunuk
Producers: Ossama Bawardi
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Robert Aramayo, Liam Cunningham
Distributor: MK2 Films
Runtime: 115 minutes