Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir creates films that act as an implicit counterpoint to the mainstream. Palestine 36 is a historical film of rebellion that challenges two of the prevailing narratives which have emerged in the last two years: that the Israel-Palestine conflict was instigated by Palestinian resistance, and that there was “peace” before October 7th. Though it began production before then, its release in this sociopolitical context gives Jacir’s thrilling and quietly hopeful film a powerful new context.
Even so, the film is only tangentially about the Zionist settler and indigenous Palestinian relationship. Palestine 36 focuses on the largest and longest revolt in the then-thirty-year-old British colonial rule, and how the ruling power easily pitted two maligned populations against each other to advance their own interests. Jacir’s complaint is certainly directed towards violent Zionist aggression, but there’s much more ire here for the British ruling class, which barely seemed to acknowledge Palestinian existence. So, too, does Jacir acknowledge the vast array of different opinions in the community regarding all these rising tensions.
A Film of Righteous Anger, Palestine ’36 Is a Historical Film with Present-Day Implications
Jacir, whose two-decade-plus career has been defined by a courageous optimism for her people’s power of persistence, excels at dramatizing a certain righteous anger with an exceeding rarity. And with Palestine 36, she pulls off something of the impossible: a purely anti-colonialist film with the aesthetic polish of a big-budget Hollywood epic. Jacir uses that shape to subvert misconceptions about the history of Palestine; as she mentioned in a post-screening Q & A at the 2025 AFI Fest, she has been shocked at just how many people have told her they were unaware there even was a period of British colonial rule.
The split-narrative is focused mostly on Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya), a young man from a small village whose aspirations for a better life brings him, frequently, into Jerusalem. A personal driver for political operative Amir (Dhafer L’Abidine), Yusuf is pulled between the more traditional country life of his parents and the allure of a city which is rapidly urbanizing. Anaya, a newcomer, looks and acts like a certified star. He has an admirable vulnerability, exemplified through his piercing blue eyes and open, sympathetic face.
Around Yusuf are equally compelling narratives that all combine to create a full vision of a region on the brink. While Yusuf initially, naively, hopes for a better life amidst the mixed intelligentsia, his boss’s wife, Khouloud (Yasmine Al Massri), a dogged journalist, reports on the British Mandate’s preferential treatment towards Jewish immigrants. At the forefront of that is Khalid (Saleh Bakri), a dockworker whose lack of fair economic treatment draws him into armed rebellion. Hanan (legendary Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass), devotedly and desperately, tries to keep the peace, even as her grandchildren are ripped away.
As disagreements give way to more and more violent retaliation by the British military, Jacir paints a complicated portrait of Palestinian resistance. Internal dilemmas and assumptions of good will threaten progress before it even begins. Khouloud and Amir disagree about capitulation to Zionism while Yusuf’s journey brings him from doe-eyed youth to fearless insurgent.
So, too, do the British characters go on their own, fluctuating journeys. Thomas (Billy Howle), a kind-hearted diplomat, naively believes that peace and compromise can be achieved through the “proper” channels, though he does advocate for Palestinian life by leaking information to Khouloud. High Commissioner Wauchope (Jeremy Irons) pays lip-service to “both sides” but only, really, helps the Zionist settlers. Charles Tegart (Liam Cunningham) pops in as the first person to propose a wall to keep out “the animals.”
Palestine 36 is beautifully shot and researched, and peppered with historical touches. Using restored and colorized archival footage, Jacir makes another, implicit counter to certain Zionist narratives which claim the land was unoccupied and without city life before 1948. It is, ultimately, a tribute film to the heroes of Palestine’s rich history, with references to the women-led silent protest of 1929, the creation of the Palestine Broadcasting Service, and darker moments, too. The formation of the Peel Commission, initially framed as a hopeful moment for the prosperity of all, paved the way for the forcible removal of Palestinians a decade later, and acts as the film’s Chekhov’s gun.
The film’s treatment of all this historical context is sometimes plain and simplified to suit its clear-eyed political, beating heart. Many characters, Yusuf and Khalid most of all, turn on dimes so quickly to join the cause of armed liberation, and some characters feel more like proxies than three-dimensional humans. With so many different narratives at play, the film wants more breathable handling. It could’ve easily been a three-hour epic, and probably deserves to be so, but its form is still emotionally and cinematically effective. Ending as it does with all characters literally on the move, there is an embedded message that these people will not budge, and that their devotion to their ancestral land is forever.