Kazim AlamIn a ceremony that felt more like an act of resistance than a mere celebration of cinema, the 13th Bosphorus Film Festival (BFF) opened at Istanbul’s historic Atlas 1948 Cinema.
Organised by the Bosphorus Culture and Arts Foundation, the week-long BFF has become one of Türkiye’s most significant cultural events, with screenings of national and international documentaries, feature and short films.
With several films and documentaries highlighting the Palestine issue, this year’s festival’s spotlight is mainly on Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, which has killed over 68,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Friday evening, Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Batuhan Mumcu condemned Israel’s two-year-long genocide in Gaza, while highlighting President Erdogan’s longstanding advocacy for the Palestinian cause.
“We are a nation that speaks out for Palestinians. We do not remain silent when we hear the word ‘Palestine’,” he said.
He framed the festival as an extension of state policy. “What we, as the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, are trying to do is not just to produce films. We’re trying to bring together people who have faced emotional traumas and cruelties.”
He said the BFF has become the country’s cultural brand, which demonstrates a “sensitivity to the suffering, hope, resistance, and truth” about people from different parts of the world.
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, whose latest production Palestine 36 was later screened, received a prolonged ovation when she spoke about the shared history between Palestine and Türkiye.
“We made this film in the darkest moment of our history,” she said. “We made it with a lot of pain and a lot of anger. And we did it mostly with love.”
She thanked TRT, the Turkish public broadcaster, for extending support for the project at a time when “we felt more alone in these last two years as Palestinians than we ever have”.
The support, she told the audience, “was a reason for us to keep going because you told us we were not alone”.
Liam Cunningham, the Irish actor known for his role in Game of Thrones, drew parallels between Palestine and Ireland.
“The story of Ireland is replicated for the Palestinian people,” he said.
“The British people oppressing the Palestinian people are the same people who oppress the Irish people. They left Ireland and were transported to Palestine to do exactly the same thing,” he said.
Cunningham, who plays a part in Palestine 36, insisted that people from his country bear “a moral obligation” to support “the cause of self-determination and freedom for the Palestinian people”.
‘Gaza kept us breathing’
Cat Villiers, one of the film’s British producers, spoke with a strong hint of remorse.
“I am British. My family has been British since they came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. My family has colonial blood on its hands, four hundreds of years,” she said.
She argued that if those complicit in the colonial project do not tell these stories, no one will.
“The shame is on us,” she said. “These stories need to be heard.”
Osama Bawardi, another producer of Palestine 36, recounted how the war in Gaza nearly derailed the production. One week before shooting was to begin in Palestine, Israel’s war on Gaza forced the team to relocate.
“It was a huge loss for us, emotionally, financially, at all levels,” he said.
Yet the bombardment became the film’s fuel.
“Gaza kept us going,” Bawardi said. “Gaza kept us breathing. We had to make this film…we couldn’t stop.”
Saleh Bakri, a Palestinian actor who plays the role of a rebel in Palestine 36, delivered the evening’s most electrifying line.
“I want to fight,” he said. “The most natural thing you do under oppression is to fight it. Because if you don’t fight there, then you get sick and you die by sickness.”
As an actor, he said, he is privileged. “The weapon I shoot with doesn’t kill anybody. There’s no blood. But my bullet is eternal,” he said.
Ogun Sanlier, the festival’s president, reaffirmed the cinema’s role in fostering solidarity with the oppressed people of the world.
“We believe that cinema is a powerful tool for people to understand each other and share their suffering,” he said.
“With this belief, we could not remain silent in the face of the great suffering in Palestine,” he said.
Screening of Palestine 36
The opening ceremony was followed by the screening of Palestine 36, a sweeping historical drama set during the 1936-39 Arab revolt against British colonial rule.
Featuring globally renowned actors like Jeremy Irons, Liam Cunningham and Hiam Abbass alongside a largely Palestinian cast, the film centres on Yusuf, a young villager played by Karim Daoud Anaya, whose ordinary life is shattered by the arrival of Zionist settlers backed by British troops.
Blending fiction with colourised archival footage, Palestine 36 depicts a close-knit rural community watching its ancestral land slip away like sand through one’s fingers.
European newcomers erect barriers, demolish homes and burn crops while British forces crush dissent with arrests and brutality.
Yusuf’s gradual transformation from a bystander to a resistance fighter anchors a narrative that shows betrayal, loss and unyielding resolve, all at once.
The film is the official submission of Palestine for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category of the 98th Academy Awards in 2026.
