Co-organized with Palestine Café Utrecht and Mirella Moschella
16 March 2025, 17:00—20:00 / Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, Lange Nieuwstraat 7, 3512 PA, Utrecht
On 16 March, a screening program is held in solidarity with Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Motan. The program highlights his arrest and the impact of ongoing apartheid and military occupation in Palestine.
Abdallah is currently detained at the notorious Gush Etzion detention center near Al-Khalīl or Hebron city of Palestine. On 13 January, he was arrested by Israeli occupation forces and sentenced to a minimum of six months in administrative detention, which is characterized by the absence of concrete charges and trials.
The 29-year-old filmmaker is from Ramallah and has worked on numerous documentary projects not only in Palestine but also internationally. According to the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), Abdallah is among at least 43 film workers and journalists currently imprisoned by the Israeli occupation.
The event begins with a talk by film worker Salim Abu Jabal who is a colleague and close friend of Abdallah. Salim shares more information about Abdallah’s oeuvre and his current imprisonment, to raise awareness about his case, as but one of many Palestinian political prisoners. After Salim’s talk, two short films by Abdallah are on the program.
The first screened short film is RBG Kids (2022). Set in the Rashidiya camp in southern Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion, the film revolves around a group of children who resisted the attack. These children are the offspring of the Palestinian revolution whose stories are nearly four decades later finally brought to the screen by Abdallah.
Deferred Reclaim (2024) is screened next. The film recounts the experiences of mothers after the disappearance of their martyred loved ones. The narrative is shaped in the context of ongoing genocide, and the occupational practice of refrigerating deceased bodies instead of burial, which is practiced since 2015.
This event is co-organized with artist Mirella Moschella and Palestine Café Utrecht, a weekly gathering space for Palestine solidarity activists that features discussions, cultural programs, and more—happening every Sunday at Cultureel Centrum Moira. Follow their activities on Instagram.
