Pordenoneโ Silent Film Festival Unearths Rare Footage of Coexistenceโข inโ Early 20th Century Palestine
PORDENONE, ITALY – A newly restored and recontextualized film,โฃ screened at the Giornate del Cinema Muto โsilent film โคfestival โin Pordenone, Italy, offers a โrare and moving โglimpse of life in Palestine during theโ early 20th century, revealing a period of relative coexistence between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The footage, originallyโ shot as British military propaganda during and after World War I, has been reshaped by filmmaker Zavenโ to highlight the sharedโฃ lives and culturalโ connections of the โregion’s diverse population.
The revelation and presentation of this material comes at a time of heightened global focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and โขa growing need to understand theโฃ region’s โcomplex history. While originally intended โฃtoโค showcase British โgains in Palestine – depicting “terrain gained” andโฃ “Turks beaten” – โZaven’s work reframes the narrative, focusing instead on everyday life and sharedโข cultural โคpractices. “What I thought โฃwas fascinating wasโฃ seeing the population: the christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem,โค and the Muslims at the Mosqueโค of โOmar,โค and theโข Jewsโฃ at the Wailing Wall,” Zaven explained. “That was the most moving aspect – that coexistence was not a sin. Theseโฃ peopleโข had so many things in common. They sang more or less the same songs. They celebrated together.”
Theโฃ festival itself is actively working against the perception of silent โคcinema as a static, nostalgic art form. According toโ festival organizers, “I’m constantly looking for ways to counter the narrative thatโ we are locked in amber and โthat we are people who always just โwant to look at the past in a โฃnostalgic way,” โsays Weissberg, acknowledging Italy’s own struggles withโ “a phony nostalgia for the ’30s and ’40s.” โThe Pordenone โfestival features new discoveries, restorations โwith live musical accompaniment, and ongoing scholarlyโฃ discussion, aiming to present silent film as a vibrant and evolving medium.
