Born in Egypt, Tahani Rached settled in Quebec in 1966. After attending École des beaux-arts de Montréal, she was involved in community action until she made her first film, Pour faire changement (1972), a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe, which set the tone for all her future work. In 1979, her first feature film, Les voleurs de jobs, revealed her distinctive view of the world. A documentary on immigration, it demonstrated her ability to capture reality. After joining the NFB as a staff filmmaker in 1980, she tackled many sensitive topics through film: war in Beirut! Not Enough Death to Go Round (1983); the resourcefulness of the disadvantaged, through the songs in Au Chic Resto Pop (1990); a doctor’s battle against AIDS in Doctors with Heart (1993); Four Women of Egypt (1997) women’s search for meaning and tolerance through 50 years of contemporary Egyptian history in Four Women of Egypt (1997), and many more.
Soraida, A Woman of Palestine (2004) captures the reflections, concerns and imagination of a Palestinian woman, her family and her neighbourhood: the soul of a nation that is doing its best to survive the war and occupation. Produced exactly twenty years ago for Canadian television, it challenged Western depictions of the region and compelled audiences at the time to ask fundamental questions about what life is like in the Middle East. Today, it offers a rarely seen portrait of life in Ramallah at the turn of the century and an insight into the daily realities of Palestinians over the decades.
We are delighted that the Glasgow Screening will be accompanied by a panel discussion with Palestinian writer/director Razan Madhoon, co-founder of Falastin Film Festival Nastassia Isawi, and Greek-Palestinian filmmaker and PhD researcher Theo Panagopoulos.
In this time of extreme erasure, Palestinian perspectives have rightly come to the forefront, primarily through art and film. As Soraida: A Woman of Palestine showed us 20 years ago, Palestinian cinema and its representations have always been a topic of debate and discussion within the Palestinian film community. How do we represent ourselves now and how did we before? Who do we speak to? How are we seen and heard?
This panel discussion grounds the discussion in the current Scottish context by welcoming two Scotland-based Palestinian women: Razan Madhoon, whose short film “Go Home” was screened as part of SAFAR Futures screening in London back in 2022, and Nastassia Isawi, one of the co-founders of both the Edinburgh based collective Sumud and Falastin film festival, whose first edition took place in Edinburgh and the West Coast this past May. The discussion will be hosted by Greek-Palestinian filmmaker and PhD researcher Theo Panagopoulos.
Razan Madhoon is a Palestinian writer/director based in Scotland. She holds an MA in Film Directing from the UK. In 2019, her feature screenplay “The Good Spirit” got selected for development at BellRock Screenwriting Residency funded by Creative Scotland and she took part in BellRock directing lab, led by Guyla Gazdag, the head of Sundance director’s lab. In 2021, she wrote and directed her short film, Go Home, funded by Screen Scotland and BFI Network. Go Home screened at 25 different festivals in 10 countries including LSFF, GSFF, British Shorts, Dinard and others. She has also taken part in Edinburgh International Film Festival talent lab, and BFI NETWORK x Crew mentoring programme 2021, mentored by the director Dawn Shadforth, where she was her shadowing director on the set of I Hate Suzie too with Sky TV and BadWolf productions, 2022. This year she finished working on her short film “The Nobody” with funds from NFTS and Amazon Prime video.
Nastassia Layla Isawi, an Italian-Palestinian, specialises in art, culture, and media. Focusing on non-profit organisations, she spearheads art projects and media initiatives, including NGO work in Gaza. Nastassia co-founded Sumud, a grassroots organisation dedicated to raising awareness of Palestine and showcasing Palestinian culture in Scotland. Additionally, she is the co-founder of the Falastin Film Festival.