Help us keep the lights on Support us
The Bristol Cable

Darin J Sallam on what shaped her creative life, her film Farha and the controversy it sparked from the Middle East to Bristol

Sallam’s film has been praised for its bravery in choosing to tackle the events of the Nakba – one of very few films to do so – but was also heavily criticised by Israeli authorities and prompted a boycott campaign

An image of Darin J Sallam, director of Farha
Features

“Seeing children carrying rocks in front of tanks is a scene that changed me. I felt that I had to do something about it. And the only thing that I could do back then was to draw, so I started drawing, and then this transformed into making films.”

Darin J Sallam is explaining how the Second Intifada played a crucial role in shaping her creative life. Sallam, who was born in Kuwait and spent her early life there before moving to Jordan, witnessed the Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation at the start of the 2000s. 

“Seeing all of these things happening in front of my eyes on TV triggered something in me and I became very frustrated, very sad. Something similar to what I’m feeling now,” she says, referring to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

As an adult, Sallam has managed to realise her early creative ambitions, channelling her desire to paint, draw, and take pictures into filmmaking. She has become best known as the director of Farha, a powerful piece of cinema which centres the experiences of a 14-year old Palestinian girl living in a village. 

A strong-willed teenager determined to go to school against the wishes of her father, Farha witnesses an atrocity at the start of the Nakba – the Arabic word for catastrophe – during which Zionist militias forcibly displaced an estimated 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and killed tens of thousands more during the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

Farha has proved a landmark film in a number of ways. Widely praised for its bravery in choosing to tackle the events of the Nakba – one of very few films to do so – it was also heavily criticised by Israeli authorities as soon as it was released and prompted a boycott campaign by Israelis who threatened to cancel their subscriptions to Netflix, where the film is still available to stream.

Controversy has followed the film from the Middle East to Bristol. Farha was due to be shown at the Arnolfini gallery as part of the Bristol Palestine Film Festival in early December, but the venue issued a statement on 21 November saying it was cancelling the screening because it “could not be confident that the event would not stray into political activity.”

This decision has been widely condemned by Bristol’s creative community and prompted an open letter that has since been signed by more than 2,300 people, while around 60 took part in a sit-down protest in the Arnolfini’s foyer on Friday 24 November in response to the decision.

A cause for humanity

None of this seems to have deterred Sallam. Warm, open and relaxed as she speaks to me from her base in Amman, Jordan, she tells me over Zoom of her early years steeped in a love of the films of Syrian-American director Moustapha Akkad. His 1981 film Lion of the Desert, which tells the story of Libyan anti-colonial resistance fighter Omar Mukhtar, was one of her favourites. 

“They call him the lion of the desert because he was an old man, but he fought until he was killed in Libya. His death was a motive to the Libyan people to get liberation and to be free later on from the Italians. So it’s a story of resistance and bravery. I loved the acting, the simplicity. It’s a beautiful film.”

After making a number of short films of her own, Sallam turned to the subject of the Nakba for her full-length feature debut, an event that had deeply affected her own family. “My grandparents and my father survived the Nakba in 1948. I grew up listening to many, many stories about Palestine,” she says, recounting her family’s flight from the town of Ramle, just north of Gaza, which is now within the borders of Israel and known as Ramla. 

“My love for Palestine, although I’ve never been there, was embedded in me because of my mother, my Syrian mother,” who told her that “it’s not a cause for Palestinians – it’s a cause for humanity.”

Protesters in Bristol's Arnolfini following its decision to cancel a screening of Farha
Protesters gather at Arnolfini following its decision to cancel a screening of Farha

Securing funding for a project exploring such a politically sensitive subject was far from straightforward. “I find a list of people wanting to meet me and then they come to my table and they try to put me down and tell me this will never happen,” she says of meetings with film producers early on in the process. Others asked her why she wanted to open old wounds. “I always told them that the wound is still open and bleeding since 1948. It’s not closed.”

In people’s hearts

When it came to making Farha, Sallam opted for a minimalist approach. Most of the film takes place within the confines of a pantry, which the titular character’s father locks her in to protect her from the Haganah, a Zionist militia, who in the film are seen interrogating Palestinians they suspect of hiding weapons. The film’s pivotal – and also most controversial – scene depicts the execution of a Palestinian family by Haganah troops, which Farha sees through a crack in the pantry door.

This scene in particular was condemned by the Israeli government as ‘incitement’ towards its military, but Sallam insists it was based on oral testimonies from family members. “The world of Farha is all based on true events that I took from real oral history, from books and patched them all together”, she says, giving examples of atrocities committed at the time, such as during the Deir Yassin and Kfar Qasim massacres, when hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Zionist paramilitaries.

The Arnolfini’s decision to cancel the screening of the film was just the latest controversy to engulf the film, but Sallam is unequivocal in her refusal to be silenced, and reads me a pre-prepared statement. “Silence is complicity, and these actions of cowardice not only hide the truth, it makes them part of the genocide that’s happening,” she says. “It’s about time that people and institutions don’t shy away from standing up for humanity.” She adds a word of thanks to Watershed for having agreed to screen the film in the Arnolfini’s place.

Sallam describes how Farha has taken on a life of its own, having been used in group screening and discussion groups in various parts of the world: “It’s not my film anymore. It’s the people’s film. It’s in people’s hearts. And to me, that’s the biggest win, that it’s creating change. When you create change through film, through art, it’s what makes us artists proud.”

Keep the Lights On

Investigative journalism strengthens democracy – it’s a necessity, not a luxury.

The Cable is Bristol’s independent, investigative newsroom. Owned and steered by more than 2,600 members, we produce award-winning journalism that digs deep into what’s happening in Bristol.

We are on a mission to become sustainable – will you help us get there?

Join now

What makes us different?

Comments

Post a comment

Mark if this comment is from the author of the article

By posting a comment you agree to our Comment Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related content

Who’s the real joke – the bin-faced comedian or the clowns in charge?

Political satirist and prime minister-baiting candidate Count Binface talks nationalising Adele, the dangers of Keir Starmer’s ‘inch-deep’ majority, and how his pastry policies can improve Bristol.

Listen: People Just Do Something – Sound against the system – punk, rave and Dave from Faithless

The guitarist from Faithless joins Priyanka and Isaac to reflect on the political power of music from back in the 80s to today.

After the crowdfunder: how can cultural spaces not just survive, but thrive?

In Bristol and elsewhere, campaigns to safeguard arts venues’ future are commonplace – and regularly smash fundraising targets. But the hard work doesn’t stop there.

Vladimir, vapes and defending democracy: when the Cable met Pussy Riot in BS3

Celebrating the subversive, we spent an evening with the legendary Russian dissidents to get behind the balaclavas to discuss all things protest.

‘He was our godfather’: Bristol musicians remember Mark Stewart

It’s a year since the Pop Group singer, a revered figure of the post-punk era, died aged 62. Beyond the uncompromising legacy of his own releases, his influence remains etched into his home city’s musical DNA.

Owner of ex-pub and cinema should up his landlord game before developing more flats, say tenants

High-profile plans to turn a former Wetherspoons on Church Road into housing have been withdrawn this week. Some tenants of the developer, Landrose, say it needs to improve its service to people already living in its properties.

Join our newsletter

Get the essential stories you won’t find anywhere else

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter to get our weekly round-up direct to your inbox every Saturday

Join our newsletter

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter

Get our latest stories & essential Bristol news
sent to your inbox every Saturday morning