62 min:
62 min | Color & B&W | DCP, BluRay, HD, DVD | Arabic, English, French, Italian | Produced by Idioms Film | Palestine, France, Qatar, Lebanon | 2016
Production of Idioms Film, coproduced by Monkey Bay Production, in collaboration with Subversive Films, Sak A DO, Tulpa productions, with the support of Arab Funds for Arts and Culture, recipient of post-production grant from Doha Film Institute, recipient of development grant from Eurimage, recipient of development support from Dubai Film Connection and In association with Screen Institute Beirut, with the support of Palestinian Cultural Fund
Off Frame aka Revolution unitl Victory- Official Trailer from Idioms Film on Vimeo.
- Toronto International Film Festival (World Premier) Sept 2016
- Dubai International Film Festival (MINA Premier) Dec 2016
- Berlinale Forum Expanded (European Premier) Feb 2016
- Cinema Du Reel (French Premier) March 2017
- Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations Screening, March 2017
- Beirut Cinema Days (Lebanese Premier) March 2017
- Haifa Independent Film Festival (Palestinian Premier), March 2017
- Sharjah Biennale 13 ,Screening, April 2017
- Oslo Arab Cinema Days (Norwegian Premier), April 2017
- Berlin Arab Film Festival ,Screening, April 2017
- Image Forum Festival (Japanese Premier), April 2017
- Cairo Cinema Days (Egyptian Premier) May 2017
- Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival (Gaza Premier) May 2017
- International Workers Film Festival, Istanbul (Turkish Premier) May 2017
- Lima Independent Film Festival (Peruvian Premier) June 2017
- Shubbak festival of Arab Culture, London (UK Premier) July 2017
- HOME, Manchester ,Screening, July 2017
- Museum of the Moving Image (USA Premier) July 2017
- New Horizons International Film festival, Wroclaw (Polish Premier), Aug 2018
- Arabian Nights, Danish Film Institute (Danish Premier) Aug 2017
- 12a Mostra Mundo Árabe de Cinema, Sao Paolo (Brazilian Premier) Aug 2017
- Latin Arab International Film Festival, Buenos Ares (Argentinian Premier) Sept 2017
- Toronto Palestine Film Festival ,Screening, Sept 2017
- Malmo Arab Film Festival, (Swedish Premier) Oct 2017
- Aegean Docs (Greek Premier) Oct 2017
- Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival, Screening, Oct 2017
- Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Screening, Oct 2017
- DC Palestinian Art and Film Festival (Washington DC premier) Oct 2017
- Arab Film Festival, San Francesco (Californian Premier) Oct 2017
- Boston Palestine Film Festival, Screening, Oct 2017
- Viennale, Vienna International Film Festival (Austrian Premier) Oct 2017
- Cinemed, Montpellier Mediterranean Festival, Screening, Oct 2017
- Arabic and Mediterranean Film Festival of Catalonia (Spanish Premier) Nov 2017
“ … and for those who suffer from invisibility, camera would be their weapon.”
“Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory” traces the fragments of a revolution, splicing images then from a dream for freedom, using films from the Palestinian struggle cinema, a term used for films produced in relation to the Palestinian revolution during the period between 1968 and 1982. For the outside world, these films represented a model of a people in struggle, explaining why they are fighting and against whom. But for Palestinians these films marked the transformation of their identity, from a refugee to that of a freedom fighter. wither its staged or not, wither its personal or collective.
The film borrows moments from a selection of militant films. These shots were edited together in one timeline , the only coherent relation between all the shots, clips, sequences is that they all lay on the boarders between fiction and propaganda, dream and reality, in order to represent a narrative of a people in struggle. As history is written/recorded while the camera rolls, the film negative not only captures what is before the camera, but it also indicates to what is missing from its cadre.
The Palestinian revolution collaborated with filmmakers, actors and activists from Syria, Italy, UK, Lebanon, France, Germany, Argentina amongst many others, and made partnerships with institutions in Berlin, Moscow, Baghdad and Cuba. Despite their prolific output, very few of their works remain. Yet there is much to learn from revisiting this era and piecing together the narrative of Palestinian militant cinema. “Off Frame” aims to fill this gap in the collective memory, making the past an urgent element of the present day analysis of Palestinian cinema. The film attempts to bring forth all that was happening behind the cameras and the creation of these films.
Resorting to cinema’s temporal nature and time being an elastic concept, “Off Frame” assumes the role of a time machine, transporting the audience back in time, by opening a portal into the life, hopes and desires of a people living in a revolution, fighting to be recognised and to reclaim control over their representation.
Film Reviews
Hollywood Reporter, Cinemascope.com, MiddleEast Eye, AL-Khaleej, Bianet, Al-Jazeera
