"Art for the struggle": They Do Not Exist revisited

3 Feb 2010 4:28 PM By Editor

Movies » "Art for the struggle": They Do Not Exist revisited

Photo: Vertigo Magazine

They Do Not Exist (Laysa lahum wujud), Mustafa Abu Ali, 1974, 25 min

Salvaged after the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel and only recently been made available, Mustafa Abu Ali's early film "They Do Not Exist" focuses on Lebanon's Palestinian refugees. Abu Ali worked with French New Wave-filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard on "Ici et Ailleurs" (Here and Elsewhere) and founded the PLO's film division. A filmmaker of "militant cinema," Abu Ali took the title of his film from a remark by former Israeli PM Golda Meir: "There were no such thing as Palestinians... They did not exist" (Washington Post, 1969). Shot under extraordinary circumstances, Abu Ali's work examines conditions in Lebanon's refugee camps, the effects of Israeli bombardments, and the life in guerrilla training camps. "They Do Not Exist is a stylistically unique work, which demonstrates the intersection between the political and the aesthetic in Lebanon."

Article credits: Palestine Film Foundation, Ubuweb

Click here to view the film and read more about "They Do Not Exist" and other films on Palestine. The film is shown on Ubuweb in partnership with Bidoun Magazine.

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Posted at 3 Feb 2010 4:28 PM by Editor