In 2022, the guest country program was Palestine. Another cinema that has shaped itself from its self-taught pioneers filmmakers to internationally recognized and awarded filmmakers and cinema.

We wanted to introduce to the Moroccan audience this not very consumed cinema in Morocco.

The Palestinian program was curated by May Odeh the well known Palestinian producers.

May is born in Birzeit-Palestine. She is a director and producer, known for Diaries (2011), Gaza by Her 2017, Drawing for Better dreams 2015, Searching for Napoleon (2006) and famous of Producing The crossing “2017”, Unknown Soldiers “2014”, ROSHMIA “2014”, Izriqaq “2013”, She worked on production and distribution of many Palestinian fiction and documentary films. She is the founder of ODEH FILMS; a production company aiming to produce and distribute creative documentary and fiction films. May has Master’s Degree in film and production from Lillehammer University in Norway. Odeh’s curate and organize a various film program including Red Carpet Film Festival, and Mobile Cinema - which is aiming to tour around villages and communities in area C to screen entertainment films for families and kids. She has been recently working in a variety of Art projects research including film, photography, cocking, writing.

The program was held in partnership with the Palestinian Embassy and the Palestine Film Institute.

The Palestine Film Institute is a Palestinian voluntary and independent non-profit organization established in 2019, The PFI was born from a shared desire among active film professionals who identify as Palestinians, to create an inclusive body with the mission to develop, promote and empower the community and industry of film in Palestine and for Palestinians worldwide and preserve its cinema.

Palestine Film Platform is an initiative launched by Palestine Film Institute in collaboration with filmmakers from Palestine and Palestinian cultural institutions.

The Platform will stream a Palestinian Feature Film every week for free. This platform is available for any Palestinian filmmaker who wants to share her/his recent work.

The goals of the institute are:

To initiate coordination, partnerships and collaborations within the network of existing Palestinian film labs, workshops and pedagogical programs.

To enable access to international experts and mediate between Palestinian film professionals and local, regional and international festivals, industry events and marketplaces. This is accomplished by participating in such events, and as an independent professional body that supports the presence of film talent.

To develop Palestinian film talent (in all aspects of the craft) by providing training programs, workshops and seminars in the creation, production, promotion and distribution of Palestinian cinema.

To empower production using the organization’s network with structures of support worldwide, creating a database of grant-making institutions and residencies, and providing expertise support in coproduction agreements.

To facilitate access and dissemination of Palestinian films worldwide, mediation of audiences, and solicitation of film agents, film critics and film scholars.

To serve the production of knowledge around Palestinian cinema, past, present and future, and to preserve film heritage, film culture and the social history of cinema by creating digital reference libraries that list Palestinian films and information regarding access as well as references for scholarship on Palestinian cinema in as many languages as possible.

To create bridges among the dispersed community of Palestinian cinema across the world while acknowledging and celebrating its achievements and mobilizing philanthropic resources.

To provide tools and resources for developing strategies that empower visibility, promotion and marketing for addressing the challenges of the digital platforms.