Why did Israel try to cancel this Netflix film? Israeli government is condemning the global streaming channel Netflix. Praise and criticism for Netflix’s release... I’m talking about "Farha" – a movie that tells the story of a 14-year-old Palestinian girl who experienced the violence that came with Israel’s creation. It’s one of very few fiction films to depict what Palestinians experienced back then. And "Farha" isn’t the only film that Israel has censored and attacked. I met up with director Darin Sallam to hear why she made "Farha" and why it sparked a crisis for Israelis. Why do you think so many Israelis
were so outraged and upset by your film? Because I think it shows their truth - a truth that they're trying to hide for so long. What they call the day of independence is our catastrophe - Nakba. And they don’t want people to know this state was built on destroying villages and killing people. - To make way for
Israel's creation in 1948, Zionist militias expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their lands. These militias also killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities and massacres. Palestinians refer to these events as the Nakba - meaning "the catastrophe." And for them, the Nakba never ended. What we see today on the news only confirms that the Nakba is still continuous. The wound is still bleeding. This is why when people [ask] me why
I'm opening an old wound, I say that the wound is still bleeding,
and the Nakba is still continuous. It's still happening every day. We want Nakba, Nakba now!
We want Nakba, Nakba now! It never stopped. You chose to hone in on one very specific story from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl. Why did you do that? - I wanted to show a girl who had dreams
like any other child, who had dreams to get an education,
to live a normal life. She didn't choose to be part of this, but she was forced into all of this. When she gets very close to her dream, the war comes to her village... and she's left behind. It looks very easy and simple,
but it's heavy. She was deprived from her dreams and she's forced to grow up. - Some Israelis who carried out the Nakba have even confirmed the violence they committed against civilians — like in the recent Israeli documentary "Tantura," about the massacre in the town of that name. Many have described "Farha" as a "mild depiction" of the atrocities behind the Nakba. But despite that, masses of Israelis
boycotted the film and canceled their Netflix subscriptions ahead of its release on the platform. Some even called for the film
to be removed from Netflix. They denied that the Nakba happened, or that people were killed during the Nakba. Or Haganah soldiers - they were calling them the most moral army and denying this tragedy that happened to
my grandparents and many, many people. Israeli officials said the film’s purpose was to "incite against Israeli soldiers" and that showing it in an Israeli theater
would be a "disgrace." Then-Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman also made moves to remove state funding from a theater in Jaffa for screening the film. The attacks against "Farha" are a normal part of Israel's censorship practices. For decades, the country has suppressed films and documentaries about the Nakba and its army’s violence. They claim that it was a land without people,
for people without a land. And I wanted people to know
that there was, this land was with people that had lives and heritage and culture
and everything. As a Palestinian, I've heard so many stories about the Nakba and read so much, seen documentaries, but I had never seen anything like this. - One of the audience once told me, even if you read about something or you hear about something, it's different because when you feel something, it stays with you. We just commemorated the 75th anniversary
of the Nakba, and the Nakba survivors that remain, there aren’t that many or
their time is slowly coming to an end. And for them to be able to watch this too,
I'm sure was really powerful. I remember this lady, her name was Layla,
I think she was 80-something. She's a Nakba survivor. And when the Israeli attack happened,
she said, "I am Farha. If they're denying her - this film,
then they're denying me." Are you hopeful that your film
is heralding a new era of this genre of
Nakba-related movies? - It's a dream come true because some film critics and experts are defining "Farha" as the film that launched the genre - the Nakba genre, which is amazing. It was avoided in cinema for so long, and I think it's about time that people hear about it and make movies about it. - Despite Israeli attempts to cancel the film, Sallam has achieved her goal. "Farha" has been screened around the world and with the film available to millions
of Netflix users, it’s allowing the Palestinian experience to
reach many who may have never even heard of the Nakba. In the world premiere in Toronto, I remember many people saying,
"We didn't know about the Nakba." They're Googling Nakba. I wanted the new generations
to learn about this event. It's for the Palestinian cause. The old will die and and the young will
remember [by] the film "Farha."
