‘Stories of Strength’, a Brighton based film festival dedicated to raising money for Palestine, was a smashing success. Set up by Amaar Zafar, a local student at the Screen and Film School Brighton, SOS Film Festival went on to raise over £815 for Anera, UK Humanity First, and Medical Aid for Palestinians. Anera offers humanitarian assistance to refugees across Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, working on the ground offering emergency relief. UK Humanity First, is an international NGO, operating in 55 countries to deliver disaster response and working alongside organisations such as the UN. Medical Aid for Palestinians delivers programmes designed and carried out by Palestinians, which aid in the delivery of essential health services.
Stories shared
Hosted at The Brunswick in Hove, the event showcased nine short films depicting stories of BIPOC communities, personal struggles, and shared experiences of marginalisation. While the films shown at SOS Film Festival ranged in style from documentary to political satire, each embodied a true story of survival, promoting messages of community and connection through hardship.
The short films were: ‘EsCape Town’, directed by Colin Macrae, ‘A Well-Bread Woman’, directed by Jasmine Kaur Gregory, ‘The Absent Guest’, directed by Thomas Au, ‘The Power to Decide’, directed by Wojtek Perales, ‘Battleground’, directed by Mark Bone & Thomas Kwesi, ‘Mind Games’, directed by Phillip Sutton, ‘The Script’, directed by Keith Chanakira, ‘Scars’, directed by Pav Kung, and ‘Last May in Palestine’, directed by Rabeea Eid.
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As well as delivering excellent cinematography, particularly in the cases of ‘esCape Town’, which tells stories of gang violence and followed the lives of prisoners in a Cape Town maximum security prison, and ‘Battleground’, which documents experiences of racism and colourism told throughout the Black Lives Matter protests, the event provided a valuable platform for otherwise untold stories. The event concluded with ‘Last May in Palestine’, a story which follows several anti-Israeli occupation demonstrations throughout 2021, in response to the ongoing genocide and continued IDF brutality. Rabeea Eid successfully documents the brave reality of being a journalist in Palestine, a country currently being occupied by Israeli forces, as he visits the site where Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered while reporting on duty. The festival, which brought together both local film students and those from the general public, offered a much-needed opportunity for community support.
A positive atmosphere
Despite tackling stories of intense struggle and prejudice, the event’s atmosphere was one of hope, as the community fundraising mission was fore fronted throughout. In this way, these largely sombre stories of fractured lives, accompanied by thoughtful content warnings, in fact created a sense of unity.