LONDON PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS NOVEMBER WITH STORIES FROM GAZA, THE WEST BANK AND THE DIASPORA

Lon­don Palestine Film Fest­iv­al (LPFF) returns this Novem­ber with a pro­gramme of fic­tion, doc­u­ment­ary and short films show­cas­ing the rich­ness of Palestini­an life through lived exper­i­ences and every­day real­it­ies. From UK Premi­eres and new films made in Gaza to archiv­al works and film­maker con­ver­sa­tions, the fest­iv­al brings a wide range of stor­ies to cinema screens across Lon­don from 13^th to 27^th November.

The fest­iv­al opens on Fri­day, Novem­ber 13^th at the Bar­bican with the UK Première of Who Is Still Alivedir­ec­ted by Nic­olas Wadimoff. Nine voices from Gaza speak about the loved ones they have lost, shar­ing memor­ies of their lives before and amid the destruc­tion in the neigh­bour­hoods whose out­lines they draw in chalk on the ground. The screen­ing will be fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Wadimoff and Jawd­at Khoudary, one of the film’s par­ti­cipants and founder of Gaza’s Al Mat’haf archae­ology museum. A second screen­ing fol­lows the next afternoon.

LPFF 2026 con­cludes on Fri­day, Novem­ber 27^th at Curzon May­fair with Con­ver­sa­tion with the Sea, dir­ec­ted by Muay­ad Alay­an. Fol­low­ing its North Amer­ic­an première at the Toronto Inter­na­tion­al Film Fest­iv­al, the film tells the story of a fath­er in Jer­u­s­alem search­ing for the truth about his son, who was believed to have drowned twenty years earlier.

Among the pro­gramme high­lights is a trib­ute to Palestini­an film­maker Mohammad Bakri, screen­ing at both Rio Cinema and River­side Stu­di­os. His son, act­or Saleh Bakri, will join audi­ences for a dis­cus­sion after each screen­ing. Edward Said: Between Worlds, which had its world première at the Toronto Inter­na­tion­al Film Fest­iv­al, also screens twice. Dir­ec­ted by Maiken Baird and made with access to the Said fam­ily archives, the doc­u­ment­ary traces Said’s life from Jer­u­s­alem to New York in his own words. The screen­ing on Novem­ber 15 at Cine Lumiere will be fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Baird.

At the ICA, a double bill of Here and Else­where (Ici et Ail­leurs) and God­ard in Amer­ica revis­its Jean-Luc God­ard’s unfin­ished film pro­ject about Palestini­an res­ist­ance. The pro­gramme also includes Land of Canaan, Mag­gie Lemere’s doc­u­ment­ary about Palestini­an olive farm­ers, screen­ing in part­ner­ship with Zaytoun. Fur­ther titles include Life Sup­port, presen­ted in part­ner­ship with Health Work­ers for Palestine; Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me; the UK Première of Who Killed Alex Odeh?; and three pro­grammes of short films from Gaza, the West Bank and the diaspora.

Khaled Ziada, Founder and Dir­ect­or of Lon­don Palestine Film Fest­iv­al, states, “Foun­ded in the late 90s, the annu­al two-week film fest­iv­al con­tin­ues to cre­ate spaces of dis­cus­sion. Each edi­tion spot­lights stor­ies of polit­ic­al real­it­ies as exper­i­enced by Palestini­ans, both at home and in the dia­spora, through the cre­at­ive lens of cinema. This year’s pro­gramme keeps Gaza at its heart, open­ing with Who is Still Alive, Nic­olas Wadimoff’s most recent doc­u­ment­ary map­ping Gaza through the stor­ies of nine refugees, and fea­tur­ing a num­ber of short films doc­u­ment­ing the real­it­ies on the ground in Gaza. We also cel­eb­rate the nuances of the life and leg­acy of Edward Said, from Jer­u­s­alem to New York, exile and belong­ing, and pay trib­ute to Mohammad Bakri and his extens­ive career in cinema and theatre.”

 

Full Pro­gramme of Events

Fri­day, 13 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – Bar­bican Cinema 1
Open­ing Night / UK Première: Who Is Still Alive (115 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Nic­olas Wadimoff and Jawd­at Khoudary
Presen­ted in part­ner­ship with The Galilee Foundation

Sat­urday, 14 Novem­ber at 3.00pm – Bar­bican Cinema 1
Who Is Still Alive (115 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Nic­olas Wadimoff and Jawd­at Khoudary
Presen­ted in part­ner­ship with The Galilee Foundation

Sat­urday, 14 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
UK Première: Who Killed Alex Odeh? (84 min)

Sunday, 15 Novem­ber at 2.00pm – Ciné Lumière
Edward Said: Between Worlds (107 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Maiken Baird

Sunday, 15 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Par­ti­tion and The Flowers Stand Silently, Wit­ness­ing (77 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Diana Allan and Theo Panagopoulos

Monday, 16 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – Bar­bican Cinema 3
From Ground Zero+ Shorts (103 min)
Gaza to Oscar, Very Small Dreams, Col­ours Under the Sky, Dreams of Farah and Zahra and Unfin­ished Stories

Tues­day, 17 Novem­ber at 6.20pm – Curzon Hox­ton, Screen 1
Gaza Shorts (81 min)
all that appears sol­id is built on blood, What the Sand Remem­bers, The Scene and Has­san
Fol­lowed by a guided dis­cus­sion facil­it­ated by Hekayyatna

Tues­day, 17 Novem­ber at 7.30pm – Ropetackle Arts Centre (Shore­ham, West Sussex)
Land of Canaan (87 min)

Tues­day, 17 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – Sands Films
A Man Fell (70 min)

Wed­nes­day, 18 Novem­ber at 6.20pm – Curzon Hox­ton, Screen 1
Shorts Pro­gramme (101 min)
Ken­tucky Gaza, Gaza Bride 17, Coyotes, the salt fish­er­man and Stuck

Wed­nes­day, 18 Novem­ber at 8.15pm – Bar­bican Cinema 2
Habibi Hus­sein (96 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Alex Bakri

Thursday, 19 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – Rio Cinema
A Life in Cinema: A Trib­ute to Mohammad Bakri (124 min)
Fol­lowed by a dis­cus­sion with Saleh Bakri

Thursday, 19 Novem­ber at 8.45pm – Bar­bican Cinema 2
Do You Love Me (75 min)

Fri­day, 20 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – River­side Stu­di­os, Screen 1
A Life in Cinema: A Trib­ute to Mohammad Bakri (124 min)
Fol­lowed by a dis­cus­sion with Saleh Bakri

Sat­urday, 21 Novem­ber at 5.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Life Sup­port (93 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Daniele Rugo, Prof Nick Maynard and Dr Tan­ya Haj Hassan
Presen­ted in part­ner­ship with Health Work­ers for Palestine

Sat­urday, 21 Novem­ber at 5.40pm – Curzon Soho, Screen 1
Medi­ter­ranean Fever (108 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Maha Haj

Sat­urday, 21 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – River­side Stu­di­os, Screen 1
The Clown of Gaza and One More Show (132 min)

Sunday, 22 Novem­ber at 2.00pm – Rio Cinema
Edward Said: Between Worlds (107 min)

Sunday, 22 Novem­ber at 4.10pm – The Garden Cinema
Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me (96 min)

Sunday, 22 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Revolu­tion­ar­ies Nev­er Die (89 min)
Fol­lowed by a dis­cus­sion with Elhum Shakerifar

Sunday, 22 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – River­side Stu­di­os, Screen 1
Lovely But­ter­fly and For Life (110 min)

Monday, 23 Novem­ber at 6.20pm – Curzon Soho, Screen 1
Chron­icles from the Siege (98 min)

Tues­day, 24 Novem­ber at 8.00pm – Sands Films
Madleens (49 min)
Fol­lowed by a guided dis­cus­sion facil­it­ated by Hekayyatna

Wed­nes­day, 25 Novem­ber at 6.30pm – Curzon Hox­ton, Screen 1
Palestini­an Unwanted and Anoth­er Day Shall Come (89 min)

Wed­nes­day, 25 Novem­ber at 8.30pm – ICA, Screen 1
Here and Else­where and God­ard in Amer­ica (98 min)
Fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with Jamal Awar, Abla Kan­da­laaft and Claire Nicolas

Thursday, 26 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – Rio Cinema
Land of Canaan (87 min)
Presen­ted in part­ner­ship with Zaytoun

Thursday, 26 Novem­ber at 6.20pm – Ber­tha DocHouse
Con­crete Land (101 min)

Fri­day, 27 Novem­ber at 6.00pm – Curzon Mayfair
Clos­ing Night: Con­ver­sa­tion with the Sea (112 min)

For the full 2026 pro­gramme and more details: www.palestinefilm.org.uk