In the face of the unfolding genocide in Gaza, how can filmmakers work together to end institutional complicity with occupation and apartheid both within our industry and the world beyond? What are Palestinians calling on cultural workers to do, and what does meaningful solidarity look like?

This workshop aims to share knowledge and models of practice with a view to connecting film workers who want to be part of a transformative movement for collective liberation, and arming them with some tools to take forward together. We will hear from guest speakers and also have time to listen and learn from each other’s experiences.

Talk 1 Palestine: Reframing the narrative with Aimee Shalan

Aimee Shalan is the director of Makan, a Palestinian-led organisation providing transformative education to strengthen the movement for Palestinian liberation. She is also Chair of the British-Palestinian Committee, a policy member of the Palestinian policy network, Al Shabaka, and a trustee of Friends of Birzeit University.

Talk 2  Challenging institutional complicity with Samir Eskanda

Samir Eskanda is a Palestinian artist, organiser, and human rights activist based in the UK. He has played a key role in many high profile campaigns and his views on the intersection of culture and activism and why art should not be used to whitewash apartheid or other grave human rights violations have appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, Sky News, and others.

Roundtable

Leah Borromeo is a multi-award winning journalist, filmmaker and co-founder of Disobedient Films. Leah is also Partnerships Editor at the politics and culture magazine, The Lead, in charge of fundraising, outreach and growth.

Asif Kapadia is an Academy Award, BAFTA, Grierson, and Grammy winning film director, writer and producer who works across both film and television. His acclaimed trilogy of archive-based films AMY, SENNA and DIEGO MARADONA take on the subject of child geniuses and the price of fame.

Charlie Shackleton is a nonfiction filmmaker living and working in London. His work has shown at Sundance, IFFR and SXSW, and won awards including a BIFA, a Grierson and two prizes at the BFI London Film Festival.

Elhum Shakerifar is a BAFTA-nominated producer, curator, translator and poet; she runs the London-based company Hakawati (‘storyteller’ in Arabic).

Further speakers to be announced in due course.