Films are a record, of people, stories, histories, creativity, places and times. What happens if this record is lost? This is what happened with with the Palestinian National Archive. The experimental film essay 'For Cultural Purposes Only' offers a thoughtful and visually visionary exploration.
 
Synopsis:
In an age dominated by the moving image what would it feel like to never see an image of the place that you came from?

The Palestinian Film Archive contained over 100 films showing the daily life and struggle of the Palestinian people. It was lost in the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982. Here interviewees describe from memory key moments from the history of Palestinian cinema. These scenes are drawn and animated. Where film survives, the artist's impressions are corroborated. This is a film about reconstruction and the idea that cinema is an expression of cultural identity - that cinema fuels memory.

Interviewees describe from memory scenes from the history of Palestinian cinema. An artist interprets the memory and draws what he hears. His drawings stand either for the original where the film is lost, or are corroborated by film imagery where the original film survives. These actions are interspersed with the story of the lost Palestinian Film Archive.

A film by Sarah Wood, Illustration Woodrow Phoenix, Animation Kate Anderson, Cartography Simon Deeves, Photography Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Soundtrack Basel Abbas, Research Kate Daniels, Camera Campbell, Editor Lucy Harris

Click here to see the film.

Click here for an article by Sarah Wood in Guardian.
Click here for article about the film in Sight and Sound.
Click here for a video interview with Sarah Wood.
Click here for an interview in Dazed and Confused.

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