‘Palestine 36’ Review: Annemarie Jacir’s Drama is a Largely Untold Tale of Early Palestinian Struggle [C+] CIFF
A tricky part of experiencing and analyzing any piece of art is separating the worthiness of its intent from the success of its execution. With film, this is occasionally the case with documentaries, where vital, often timely topics are sometimes explored in lackluster, imperfectly assembled films. Such is the case with Palestine 36, the new historical drama from writer-director Annemarie Jacir, tells the story of the 1930s Palestinian revolution against British colonial rule which preceded the partition of Palestine and the establishment of Israel. The film aims to be an epic, essential recounting of an important moment in 20th century history that led to repercussions that are still being felt to this day. And like so much of the modern history of Palestine, these events are generally under-discussed throughout most of the world. But while Jacir’s intentions are noble, her film isn’t assembled in a compelling manner worthy of its topic.
Jacir’s film wisely fans its perspective out to show the actions of a handful of individuals who were important to the revolt. The closest the film gets to having a central character is Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya, making his film debut), a young man who is introduced in a scene where a British soldier aggressively asks for his documents. Notably, he dutifully and even cheerfully obeys. It’s a character beat that establishes him as an individual unquestioning of authority – a trait that will change as the story progresses, making him something of a stand-in for Palestinians pushed to action by their oppressors and, thus, relatable to audience members feeling dissatisfied about the current state of the world. In addition to Yusuf, the film follows a number of Palestinians caught up in the motions of history, including Khouloud (Yasmine Al Massri), a female journalist who must use a male pseudonym in order to get published, and Father Boulos (Jalal Altawil) a Christian priest whose goodness and generosity is constantly tested. Jacir also focuses on British characters, like Arthur Wauchope (Jeremy Irons), a pragmatic, high ranking Army officer working as an administrator, and Thomas Hopkins (Billy Howle), a governmental secretary trying to temper the righteous anger of his Palestinian friends.
Although Jacir’s decision to craft her story as an ensemble film is smart and gives the film a grander sense of scale, Yusuf still feels like something akin to a main character at times. Indeed, the film essentially begins and ends with him, with the film opening by following him in a way that establishes the tone of the film and its historical context. Thus, every time the film checks in with him – which it does frequently in the first half – it feels as if the audience should graft upon him as a narrative center. But then, following violent and objectively unfair interactions with British soldiers, his character suddenly morphs from a docile citizen to an armed member of the Palestinian resistance, with this change happening abruptly and off-screen. Following this realignment of his purpose, the film shows him less as it proceeds, spreading the narrative out more evenly amongst its many characters. But this gives the film a feeling of imbalance, as if Yusuf is merely a narrative tool meant to establish the film itself rather than an actual fully-dimensional character. Anaya seems almost understandably lost as a performer, struggling to make strong choices as to Yusuf’s temperament or feelings, perhaps owing to the unsteady way in which his character is written. Still, he’s a striking presence who makes an impression whenever he’s on-screen.
Other actors who have a much clearer, more concise character journey fare better. Altawil portrays Father Boulos – perhaps unsurprisingly – as extremely patient and virtuous, but never in a way that seems naive. He plays the clergyman as gentle but sure of his convictions. Massri is appropriately headstrong and forceful in her characterization of Khouloud, playing one of the many women who show their dissatisfaction with British authority. Palestine 36, unlike many historical dramas, refreshingly features a virtually equal number of male and female characters of substance – something that many more films that cover non-fiction events could learn from. The film even practically makes a subtle commentary on this erasure of the female perspective by showing the British underestimating them, as with a Palestinian woman who is shown successfully hiding weapons on a bus while the colonizing forces remove all the men from the vehicle for interrogation.
Although it’s understandable that Jacir would want to cover as much ground as possible when telling the story of such a wide-ranging, complicated event, the film isn’t structured in a way that builds energy in a captivating way. The constant cutting away from characters robs the film of propulsion and even clarity. Some dizzying scene-concluding edits even occur in the middle of music cues. There’s seemingly little logic to why or when the screenplay moves from one figure to another, besides the obvious linear timeline by which it abides. It’s hard for momentum to build, especially given the film’s general unenergized pace. It’s strange that the film doesn’t zip along given that most of its scenes are quite short, with characters immediately getting to the point with their dialogue. The screenplay doesn’t allow for much in the way of character growth through casual conversation or by watching them simply live their lives outside of the constraints of the overarching revolution plot.
It’s also surprising, given how all-encompassing the film clearly aims to be in its recounting, that none of the speaking characters represent the Jewish refugees being shipped to Palestine as part of the British colonization plan. The film features characters that are Palestinian and characters that are British (both “good” and “bad”), but the Jewish immigrants are only ever shown from a literal distance in far-off shots of their fenced-in colonies. This especially sticks out given that the film makes a point of condemning the use of the Jewish refugees as political pawns by the British government, which doesn’t actually care about them, they just wish to be rid of them from their own country. The film depicts a radio broadcast announcing the findings of the infamous Peel Commission which formally announced the plan for Palestinian partition, in which the radio announcer chillingly proclaims that this is a solution to “the Jewish problem.” It’s a wise inclusion to keep the focus on the misdeeds of the British government, but the lack of individualized perspective of those being used as political tools by the oppressive force is glaring.
Still, where Palestine 36 truly excels is in showing the passionate determination of the Palestinian people to fight for their homeland, even if it means that they will not live to see true freedom themselves. The film makes a point to spotlight the lush beauty of the land, handsomely capturing the rolling green hills and naturally dramatic rocky terrain, showing that it’s a place worth fighting for. This film was eight years in the making, with part of its production taking place after the post-October 7th Israeli bombings and subsequent genocidal actions had begun in Palestine. Clearly, Annemarie Jacir worked hard to bring this story to the screen, and even if the finished product in which it reaches audiences may be far from perfect, the fact that it’s being told at all is a revolutionary act.
Grade: C+
This review is from the 2025 Chicago International Film Festival. Palestine 36 will be released theatrically in the U.S. by Watermelon Pictures. The film is Palestine’s official submission for the International Feature Film Oscar.
He currently resides in Chicago and is a proud member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. He also writes and podcasts for Next Best Picture and co-hosts his own podcast “Halloweeners: A Horror Movie Podcast.” You can follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Bluesky @codymonster91
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