Fierté nationale : de Jéricho vers Gaza

In the presence of the artist, followed by a Q&A

“(...) Sven Augustijnen’s latest feature film follows in the footsteps of the Palestinian diplomat Hassan al Balawi during his brief stay in his homeland, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death. Shot in 2019 and edited four years later, the images today take on the weight of a premonition of the ongoing disaster in Gaza, a mass grave where dreams of liberation and peace have collapsed beneath the rubble.” - L’art même

PRACTICAL

➤ Wednesday 29.04 - 20:00
➤ Cinema ZED STUK
➤ Duration: 93’
➤ Language: Arabic and French, with English subtitles.
➤ Tickets: Free, with free contribution.
➤ Free with suggested donation. Profits from ticketsales will be donated to The Sameer Project; a donations based initiative, led by Palestinians in the diaspora, working to supply aid to displaced families in Gaza.

In the wake of Palestinian memory, National Pride: From Jericho to Gaza follows Hassan Al Balawi, a diplomat based in Brussels, returning to his homeland on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat—a tutelary figure of the liberation struggle and leader of the PLO. Filmed in 2019, the film traces his journey from Jericho to the Gaza border, through an occupied West Bank where every checkpoint, every landscape, bears the imprint of broken promises.

This intimate journey sketches the portrait of a struggle in suspense: between the broken momentum of the peace process born from the Oslo Accords and the shockwave of the tragedies of October 7, 2023. In this intertwining of memory and present, a narrative of disillusionment and of persistence emerges, where the unfinished quest for justice and freedom continues to haunt bodies, voices, and territories.

Special mention Burning Lights Competitie Visions du Réel 2025

Sven Augustijnen (°1970) lives and works in Brussels. His films, publications and installations on political, historical and social themes constantly challenge the genre of the documentary. His work was presented in solo exhibitions at a.o. Wiels (Brussels), de Appel (Amsterdam) and Centre pour l’Image contemporain (Montréal). Sven Augustijnen is represented by Jan Mot, Brussels and is a founding member of Auguste Orts, Brussels.

Concept and image Sven Augustijnen Protagonist Hassan Al Balawi With Général Tawfiq Al-Tirawi, Lieutenant Ayat Housheiya, Hassan Saleh, Mahmoud al-Aloul, Mahmoud Abbas, Lina, Zeina, Khaled Yasser Arafat et Zubayda Zankari, Aisha Bargouthi-Saifi, Yaël Dayan, Jannat Nasser, Zahira Omar Saadine Production assistants Fairuz Ghammam and Boris Belay Editing Mathieu Haessler Sound recording Benoît Bruwier and Sacha Hackier Sound mix Frédéric Furnelle – A Sound studio Grading Cobalt and Lennert De Taeye Produced by Auguste Orts, co-produced by Projections, Cobra Films With the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie–Bruxelles, S.M.A.K., Friends of Auguste Orts Fund, Image/mouvement du Centre national des arts plastiques, la République et canton de Genève, collectif dimanche des curatrices Bénédicte le Pimpec et Isaline Vuille, Mophradat, WIP Wallonie Image Production, deAuteurs, Jan Mot, Lund University / Malmö Art Academy

The project was presented at CineMart 2014 in Rotterdam, On & For Production 2014 in Brussels and VdR-Pitching 2019 at Visions du Réel, Nyon