Nearly three decades since its inception, the London Palestine Film Festival returns to the city, telling stories than span from Gaza and Jenin to Beirut and North America.
What began in the late 90s as a student-led series of screenings in a university classroom has since grown into one of the longest-running festivals of its kind. Now approaching its 30th year, the London Palestine Film Festival returns to the capital from November 13 to 27 for its most expansive programme yet, hosting 28 screenings across 11 cinemas. Across the fortnight, the organisers aim to not only share the lived experiences of Palestinians but also preserve the richness of culture, art, and history across the diaspora.
Founder Khaled Ziada emphasises his inclusive approach to the festival’s programming. “It’s more about Palestine rather than [specifically] Palestinian stories.” With a focus on reaching diverse audiences, the films don’t necessarily need to be made by Palestinian filmmakers, or even set in Palestine. Rather, they must have some connection to the culture through themes such as social life, politics, sport or history. Across fiction, documentary, short films and archival footage, this year’s programme offers the opportunity to experience Palestine beyond a single viewpoint.
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The festival began at SOAS University in the 1990s, where Khaled and a group of friends organised a handful of screenings. He still recalls the nostalgic sound of feeding the tapes into a VHS player. As the demand began to grow, so did the festival, prompting the organisers to expand to the Barbican while maintaining their roots at SOAS.
This year’s edition kicks off at the Barbican on November 13 with the UK premier of Who is Still Alive, directed by Nicolas Wadimoff. The film brings together nine voices from Gaza who recount their experiences of love, loss, and hope, told against the backdrop of the destruction of their homes. Rather than relying solely on traditional documentary footage, Wadimoff invites the participants to retrace their neighbourhoods with chalk, providing a visual form to the stories they share. As Gaza still faces immense tragedy and lessening news coverage, this film brings these personal experiences to the forefront. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Wadimoff and one of the film’s participants, Jawdat Khoudary.
Although the festival doesn’t focus on a predetermined theme, certain ones inevitably appear. The ongoing destruction in Gaza is represented throughout multiple films; “It is for unfortunate reasons that Gaza will stay the main theme of our festival,” says Khaled. “We have to give very good attention to what’s happening in Gaza and the ongoing genocide and the people.”
The programme also highlights three individual figures whose work has shaped art, intellectual and activist movements across Palestine and North America. On November 19 at Rio Cinema and November 20 at Riverside Studios, a series of three short films will celebrate the legacy of Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri. Often referred to as the founding father of Palestinian cinema, Bakri has an impressive repertoire of filmmaking, theatre production and acting. These screenings will be followed by a discussion with his son and actor, Saleh Bakri.
The UK première of Edward Said: Between Two Worlds will be shown on November 15 and 22. Directed by Maiken Baird, this documentary highlights one of Palestine’s most renowned intellectuals. With access to Said’s rare archival materials, the film follows his life from Jerusalem to New York, focusing on the themes of a life lived in exile. Baird will be joining the November 15 screening at Ciné Lumière for a discussion after the film.
Who Killed Alex Odeh?, a highly anticipated documentary thriller investigating the real-life assassination of Palestinian-American activist Alex Odeh, makes its UK debut on November 14 at the ICA. Odeh, an esteemed teacher and community activist, was killed by a tripwire bomb in his California office in 1985. Despite substantial evidence, the case remains unsolved. Through contemporary investigations and archival footage, directors Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans retrace the case, examining the extremist political forces surrounding the assassination and their continued ramifications today. For Khaled, films like these represent an important part of the festival’s mission: “Sometimes we not only bring the collective stories of Palestinians to the festival, but also individual stories, which by themselves represent a bigger collective.”
Beyond the festival’s selection of documentaries and political histories, the programme also explores the everyday cultural experiences and traditions that shape the region. Habibi Hussien introduces audiences to Jenin’s last cinema projectionist. Do You Love Me dives into 70 years of collective memory in Beirut through archival footage and photography, while, Land of Canaan follows anthropologist Dr Nasser Abufarha’s journey to revive the West Bank’s olive farms and agricultural heritage.
On November 27 the UK première of Muayad Alayan’s Conversations with the Sea will close the festival. Following its World Premier at the Venice Film Festival in September, this moving drama centres on Kamal, a 60-year-old Palestinian father in Jerusalem, two decades after his son’s death. When Kamal is confronted by the Israeli court to pay an alleged social security debt for his son, he discovers there is no official record of his death. The unexpected request leads Kamal on a quest to discover the truth about his son’s disappearance.
The stories that are shown on the screen are just as important as the conversations that continue after. Khaled expresses the significance of the facilitated discussions and filmmaker Q&As as a way for audiences to engage more deeply with the work, but what has been most impactful for him is the community that this festival has brought together. He describes seeing people from across Arab, European, Muslim and Jewish communities meeting in the cinema and continuing the conversation beyond the screenings, even becoming long-time friends. “In a way, this festival is actually building up a community,” he says.
The London Palestine Film Festival runs from November 13 to 27 2026 at venues across London.
