Stitch the stories of Palestine ✂️✨ (Swipe to see some gorgeous photos from previous years) Join us for a day of Tatreez, the traditional Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery, led by @helenbarnestextileartist . This year’s motif - a pomegranate flower from Gaza - will be crafted into a festive card to take home. 📍 Quaker Meeting House, Leeds 📅 Sat 22 November, 10:30am–3:30pm (doors 10am) 🍽️ Includes a simple Palestinian buffet lunch 🎟️ £45 — all materials provided 🤝 All profits support the Bethlehem Embroidery Co-Operative Whether you’re a first-time stitcher or a seasoned embroiderer, expect a creative, calming and meaningful day in good company. Tickets available now - we have very limited places so please book early to avoid missing out ❤️ #LeedsPFF2025 #Tatreez #PalestinianEmbroidery #LeedsWorkshop
Often described as the ‘Palestinian Mandela’, Marwan Barghouti may one day lead the Palestinian people. Currently in an Israeli prison, this film takes you on a brutally honest and transformative journey into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tomorrow’s Freedom (2022) will be screened in partnership with @otleycourthouse later this month. 📍 Otley Courthouse, Courthouse St, LS21 3AN 🗓️ Thu 27 Nov ⏱️ Doors 6:45pm | Film 7:30pm 🎟️ Tickets via link in bio #LeedsPFF2025 #Otley #PalestinianCinema
They heard her voice. Then silence. The Voice of Hind Rajab tells the story of 5-year-old Hind, trapped in a car, calling for help. Her voice became impossible to ignore. 23 minutes and 50 seconds of standing ovation at Venice. Grand Jury Prize winner. Heart-shattering, urgent, and necessary. This is the film everyone needs to see but no one wants to watch. 📍 @hydeparkph 📅 Nov 30, 5pm 🎟️ Ticket link in bio Her voice still echoes. 🇵🇸 #TheVoiceOfHindRajab #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF2025 #VeniceFilmFestival #Gaza
When coexistence becomes the punchline. Comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi grew up in Israel’s only intentionally integrated Jewish-Arab community. She believed in peace. She worked for the UN. Then she picked up a mic instead. Co-existence, My Ass! follows five years of Noam turning her disillusionment into brutal, fearless stand-up – calling out the absurdity, the lies, the bad joke that ‘coexistence’ has become. Winner at Sundance. Savage, funny, and heartbreaking all at once. 📍 Seven Arts Leeds 📅 November 28, 7pm 🎟️ [Link in bio] Sometimes the truth sounds like a punchline. 🎤🇵🇸 #CoexistenceMyAss #LeedsPFF2025 #FilmFestival #Leeds
They call him the ‘Palestinian Nelson Mandela. He’s been locked up for over two decades. And he’d still win by a landslide. Tomorrow’s Freedom tells the story of Marwan Barghouti – serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison, yet still the most popular Palestinian leader according to the polls. Through his wife Fadwa and his children, we see the man behind the legend: the hunger strikes, the prison visits, the decades stolen. Intimate, powerful, and brutally honest. This is the story of a leader in chains and a people waiting for tomorrow. 📍 Otley Courthouse 📅 November 27, 7:30pm 🎟️ Ticket link in bio Some voices can’t be silenced 🇵🇸 #TomorrowsFreedom #MarwanBarghouti #LeedsPFF2025
What happens when former enemies decide they’re done fighting each other? There Is Another Way follows Combatants for Peace – ex-Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters who’ve put down their weapons and picked up something harder: hope. Nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes, they’re proving that even in the middle of war, people can choose a different path. But after October 7th and everything that followed, their biggest battle isn’t with each other – it’s keeping faith that change is even possible. Real people. Real stakes. Real courage. 📍 St Chad’s Parish Centre, Headingley 📅 21 Nov (doors open 6:45 pm) screening + Q&A 🎟️ Ticket link in bio This is the conversation everyone’s avoiding. Don’t miss it. 🇵🇸 #ThereIsAnotherWay #CombatantsForPeace #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF2025
Ever wondered what your grandparents’ generation fought for? Palestine 36 throws you right into the heat of the 1936 revolt. Raw, intense, and way more gripping than your history textbook ever was. This isn’t just another period piece. It’s the story of ordinary people who said enough is enough. 📍 The Hyde Park Picture House 📅 November 20 🎟️ Ticker link in bio Bring your mates. This one hits different. 🇵🇸 @palestine36film @annamariajacir @curzonfilm @kamelelbasha @jazmasri @jalal_altawil @robertaramayo #Palestine36 #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF2025 #PalestinianCinema #Leeds”
Yalla Parkour follows young Palestinians in #Gaza using #parkour to reclaim freedom and joy amid conflict. Through breathtaking rooftop runs and daring leaps, these athletes transform their landscape into a playground of resistance and hope. This film is in collaboration with @leedsfilmfest 📍Screening at Leeds Palestinian Film Festival, @hydeparkph 📆 12 November, 6pm 🎟️ Ticket link in bio #YallaParkour #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF2025 #PalestinianCinema
Yalla Parkour follows young Palestinians in #Gaza using #parkour to reclaim freedom and joy amid conflict. Through breathtaking rooftop runs and daring leaps, these athletes transform their landscape into a playground of resistance and hope. This film is in collaboration with Leeds International Film Festival - LIFF 📍Screening at Leeds Palestinian Film Festival, The Hyde Park Picture House 📆 12 November, 6pm 🎟️ Ticket link in bio #YallaParkour #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF2025 #PalestinianCinema
There Is Another Way (2025) Former enemy fighters come together to break the cycle of violence and injustice, and show that another path is possible - for them, for us and for all humanity. This new documentary follows Israelis and Palestinians from Combatants for Peace (twice Nobel Peace Prize–nominated), working together through ongoing war and profound loss to insist that humanity must come first. 📍 St Chad’s Parish Centre, Otley Rd LS16 5JT 🗓️ Fri 21 Nov 🤝 Presented in collaboration with Spark Social Justice 🎟️ Tickets via link in bio #LeedsPFF2025
Absolutely chuffed to bits! A massive thanks to The Yorkshire Post for featuring the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival and its highlights in their latest piece. Have a read of the article below (under a paywall)
10 days to go until our festival kickstarts with Yalla Parkour (2024) A debut documentary from Areeb Zuaiter, tracing memory, belonging and the fearless parkour community in Gaza. 📍 Hyde Park Picture House, LS6 1JD 🗓️ Wed 12 Nov, 6pm ❤️ In collaboration with @leedsfilmfest 🎟️ Tickets via link in bio #LeedsPFF2025 #PalestinianCinema #LeedsFilm
Throughout history, when communities face oppression, their walls become canvases for defiance, memory, and hope. From the Berlin Wall to Soweto, street art has documented struggles that official narratives tried to erase. For decades, Palestinian artists have transformed checkpoints, barriers, and refugee camp walls into declarations of identity and resistance. These murals assert existence, preserve memory, and refuse erasure. Join us to celebrate this vital artistic tradition 📅 Thursday, November 20 📍 St Luke's CARES (Beeston) 🕔 7.30pm Paint a community mural with us, share Palestinian food, and watch short films exploring the history of Palestinian street art. Family-friendly, hands-on, all welcome. Free entry | Donations welcome Swipe to see resistance art from Palestine and beyond ➝ 📸 Ron Frazier, Fabricio Sakai, Hasse Lossius, Francesca Noemi Marconi, Caleb-Wright, Dan Meyers, Ash Hayes and Ben Kerckx #LeedsPFF2025 #PalestinianArt #StreetArt #Leeds
1936. An uprising that marks the most pivotal moment in Palestine’s history. Anne-Marie Jacir’s @palestine36film follows Yusuf as he drifts between his village and the charged streets of Jerusalem - seeking a future while history closes in. As Palestinians rise against British colonial rule and Jewish refugees flee European antisemitism, the region spirals toward a decisive collision that will shape the future of the entire region. 📍 Hyde Park Picture House @hydeparkph 🗓️ Thu 20 Nov 🎟️ Tickets via link in bio - nearly sold out #LeedsPFF2025 #Palestine36 #PalestinianCinema #LeedsLife
Your Film Festival Just Got Tastier! We’re excited to partner with @ecco_pizzeria as the official food partner for the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival! They’ve crafted the magnificent Official Palestine Pizza (hello, sumac & tahini! 👋) to complement the important work and beautiful culture of Palestine we’ll be showcasing. 🍕 FREE FOOD ALERT! 🍕 Present your festival ticket at Ecco (93 Otley Road, Headingley) from Nov 12 - Dec 6 and grab a complimentary side with your main course. Come share a meal and support the festival! #LeedsPFF2025 #EccoPizzeria #LeedsLife #LeedsEats #LIFF2025
🎬 Yalla Parkour (2024) – Trailer Areeb Zuaiter’s debut documentary follows her search for memory and belonging - and an unexpected meeting with Ahmed, a parkour athlete in Gaza, whose movement becomes a form of resistance, joy and survival. ✨In collaboration with Leeds International Film Festival - LIFF 📆Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 November 👉 Link in bio to book The Hyde Park Picture House Yalla Parkour #LeedsPFF2025 #LIFF3025 #Parkour
Not sure where to begin with our powerful festival line-up? Swipe through to discover stills and three words that capture the spirit of some of this year’s standout films. Also tap to find out more via each film’s Instagram page. Our highlight event, Women, Film & Resistance in Gaza (27 November) also features films made by Gazan Women and is not to be missed. 🎟️ Tickets available now via the link in our bio. #LeedsPFF2025 #PalestineThroughCinema #WomenInFilm #CulturalResistance
🎬 Voices from the Rubble of Gaza From 26–31 October, the very first Gaza International Festival for Women’s Cinema will take place @gifwcinema We’ll be sharing films by Gazan women at our highlight event, ‘Women, Film & Resistance in Gaza’ on 27 November, including an interview with festival founder @ezzaldeen_shalh 📽️Please consider donating to our fundraiser to help train 20 Gazan women in filmmaking 🎟️See links in bio for full details and event tickets #LeedsPFF2025 #LeedsPFF #WomensCinema #PalestineCinema
Lights, Camera, Action! We're thrilled to be featured in The Scarborough News! Spreading the word about Palestinian culture across Yorkshire. Huge thanks for the write-up! Read the full article here:
We are over the moon to be featured in today’s Halifax Courier ❤️ Read all about the upcoming festival next month
We’re so proud of our friends at Zaytoun CIC! 🌿 Featured in The Guardian for a 50% rise in UK sales - a huge achievement for the social enterprise supporting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Link in comments to read more! You can buy their delicious olive oil and other products at LPFF events.
We're thrilled to be featured in the Yorkshire Evening Post! 🎉 Get the full scoop on what to expect at this years festival running from November 12 - December 6. Our lineup showcases the richness and resilience of Palestinian culture through film, including the first Leeds screening of the Oscar submission Palestine 36 and much more. Read the full article and plan your visit! 👇 https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/whats-on/leeds-palestinian-film-festival-information-5361397 #LPFF2025 #WhatOnLeeds
🎬 LAST CHANCE TO BOOK Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege Today • Saturday 18 October • 6pm The Hyde Park Picture House, Part of Hyde Park Film School Abdallah Al-Khatib's powerful documentary captures life in Yarmouk refugee camp during the Syrian siege – a haunting portrait of resilience, dignity and resistance in the face of unimaginable hardship. This powerful film concludes today's "Militant Palestinian Cinema... In a Day" event – there's still time to join us for this final screening at 6pm. 🎟️ Book now: Link in bio This project is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. #LeedsPFF2025 #PalestinianCinema #HydeParkPictureHouse
“More necessary, more urgent, and more important than ever." That's Sir David Hare on the 2025 Leeds Palestinian Film Festival. We are so proud to be backed by the BAFTA-winning playwright as we announce the highly topical line-up for our 11th edition! This year, we continue to celebrate the resilience of Palestinian culture through cinema and powerful stories. Read the full write-up in Prolific North and secure your tickets now! 👇 https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/more-important-than-ever-david-hare-gives-backing-to-2025s-highly-topical-leeds-palestinian-film-festival #LeedsPFF2025 #LeedsPalestinianFilmFestival #DavidHare
In a year of unspeakable suffering for Palestinian people, the 11th Leeds Palestinian Film Festival returns with renewed urgency. This is an opportunity to bear witness through cinema. To hear Palestinian voices. To engage with Palestinian history, culture and politics. To participate through our live Q&As and embroidery workshop. From Wednesday 12 November to Saturday 6 December 2025, we're bringing you three weeks of transformative cinema across 10 venues throughout Leeds - including Hyde Park Picture House, All Hallows, St Chad's and the Quaker Meeting House. We're particularly thrilled to share two highlight events: the exclusive Leeds premiere of Palestine 36 - Palestine's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars - and our Legendary Women of Gaza which will be a tribute to Gazans’ creative resistance. Stay tuned for more details about both. Following several sold-out screenings last year, we recommend booking your tickets early. They're now available via our website. Link in comments! Follow us for further details about each screening, and turn on post notifications so you don't miss any updates. We can't wait to see you at #LeedsPFF2025
Our beautiful merch displays❤️ This year’s festival merch includes: • Festival T-shirts + tote bags (design by Leeds artist Mick Marston) • Kufiyas directly from Hirbawi • Cashmere scarves • @zaytoun_cic olive products • Palestinian crafts (Inc Tatreez embroidery + ceramics) Get yours at our film school event with @hydeparkph on Saturday 18 October and throughout the festival. Every purchase supports our work and the makers behind it🇵🇸 #LeedsPFF2025 #LeedsPFF
We had an inspiring day at the University of Leeds Palestine Culture Day! It was a privilege to represent the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival and contribute to the evening’s events with a screening of the film Exception. Swipe through to see the wonderful atmosphere and engagement. Events like this are so important for sharing stories #LeedsPFF
Read all about the secret history of militant Palestinian cinema in today’s Asian Express https://www.asianexpress.co.uk/2025/10/rare-archival-palestinian-film-clips-to-screen-for-first-time-in-decades-at-leeds-event
*********COMPETION IS NOW CLOSED**********🎟️ COMPETITION: Win 2 Tickets to Militant Palestinian Cinema Day School "The camera is a weapon" – but what does that mean to you? TO ENTER, share your answer in ONE of these ways: ✍️ Your definition of "militant cinema" 🎥 A film that changed your perspective The most thoughtful entry wins 2 tickets (worth £50) to our groundbreaking day school on 18 October, exploring Palestinian cinema & revolutionary filmmaking, plus an evening screening of Little Palestine. HOW TO ENTER: ✅ Follow @Leedspff and The Hyde Park Picture House ✅ Comment your entry below ✅ Tag who you'd bring with you Closes 6pm Thursday 15 October | Winner announced shortly after. Let's start the conversation now T&Cs Apply. Please see the link in bio #LeedsPFF #MilitantCinemaLeeds #Competition
🎬 DON'T MISS: Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege A haunting portrait of survival in Yarmouk refugee camp during the Syrian civil war. In a year when Gaza dominates headlines, this powerful film reminds us that Palestinian resilience endures across borders and generations. 📍 Hyde Park Picture House, Saturday 18 October, 6pm 🎟️ Just £8.50-£10.50 Book now: Link in comments and bio #LeedsPFF #PalestinianCinema
In an age of algorithm-fed content and manufactured consent, militant cinema's questions remain urgent: Who controls the image? Whose stories are centred? Can cinema create change? Today's Palestinian filmmakers inherit this tradition, working under occupation, in exile, against erasure. They continue asking: How do you film resistance? How do you archive what others try to delete? Contemporary militant cinema: ✨ Challenges social media's fragmented narratives ✨ Reclaims storytelling from corporate platforms ✨ Builds collective memory against historical erasure ✨ Transforms viewers into witnesses and participants This day school isn't just film history, it's about understanding cinema as a tool for justice, memory, and liberation. 📅 Saturday 18 October 📍 Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds 🎓 Part of Hyde Park Film School No film degree needed—just curiosity. This isn't a lecture, it's a conversation. Explore militant cinema from the ground up, leave with new perspectives (and a special token to remember the day). Perfect for film students, Middle East scholars, and anyone who believes cinema can change the world. Limited capacity in Screen 2—grab your ticket early. Link in bio 🔗 This project is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. #LeedsPFF #MilitantCinema #DecolonizeFilm #FilmTheory #ResistanceCinema
Part 2 of 3 - From Algiers to Palestine: The Revolutionary Roots Militant cinema emerged when colonised peoples seized the means of production—literally. 1960s: Anti-colonial movements in Africa, Latin America, and Asia reject Hollywood's gaze. Filmmakers like Gillo Pontecorvo, Glauber Rocha, and Fernando Solanas create cinema that doesn't just document struggle—it participates in it. 1970s: Palestinian filmmakers, displaced and dispossessed, build a cinema in exile. The camera becomes memory, testimony, and resistance. What makes it MILITANT? 📌 Rejects "objectivity" for clear political commitment 📌 Created outside commercial systems 📌 Designed to provoke action, not just emotion 📌 Often collectively produced 📌 Challenges who can be a filmmaker Palestinian militant cinema didn't just show the struggle; it became part of it. Films were screened in refugee camps, used for political education, and carried across borders as acts of cultural survival. Discover this powerful legacy with us on 18 October. Buy your ticket now. Link in bio This project is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. #LeedsPFF #MilitantCinema #PalestinianCinema #ThirdWorldCinema
Witness the unyielding resilience of a community under siege LITTLE PALESTINE, DIARY OF A SIEGE is an urgent and powerful documentary chronicling the daily life, resistance, and unyielding human spirit within Yarmouk, Syria, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world, during the brutal 2013-2015 siege. Filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib and his friends captured a community that faced bombing, hunger, and displacement with profound bravery, solidarity, and art. This is essential, moving cinema. Screening Details 🗓️ Saturday 18 October | 6 pm 📍 Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds FREE ENTRY for everyone with a ticket to the all-day Militant Palestinian Cinema... In a Day programme! Separate tickets are also available for this evening screening only. 🔗 Grab your tickets (or the full Day School pass) now! Links in bio. #LeedsPFF #LittlePalestine #PalestinianCinema #Yarmouk #HPPH
Part 1 of 3 - Militant cinema isn't just about protest; it's about revolution in form and content. Born from anti-colonial struggles of the 1960s-70s, militant cinema rejects traditional filmmaking to become a weapon of consciousness. It asks: who controls the camera? Whose stories get told? Key characteristics: 🎥 Challenges dominant narratives 📽️ Created by and for oppressed communities 🌍 Prioritises collective liberation over individual stories ⚡ Breaks conventional film language From Latin American Third Cinema to Palestinian resistance films, militant cinema transforms the camera from a tool of observation into an instrument of change. Join us Saturday, 18th October at The Hyde Park Picture House as we explore this radical film tradition and its profound influence on Palestinian cinema. But your ticket now. Link in bio This project is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. #LeedsPFF #MilitantCinema #ThirdCinema #DecolonialCinema
