The Palestine, Filming It’s Exister Cinematographic Meetings begin this November 29 in Geneva, with the opening film of the documentary “Before, there was nothing” by Genevan director Yvann Yagchi. A festival to experience until December 2 at the Grütli cinemas, the MEG and the Sputnik.
Her mother was born in Palestine before going into forced exile with her parents in 1948 when she was just one year old. Yvann Yagchi, for his part, was born in Geneva. For his third feature film, the director decided to go to the West Bank, to meet a childhood friend who became a Jewish settler in land where he, as a Palestinian, has no right to live.
These first steps on Palestinian land lead Yvann Yagchi to a colony opposite Bethlehem. He questions his friend about his choices, does not hide their differences, meets the rabbis. He expresses his growing resentment as his visits progress. The words and presence of Yvann Yagchi are too disturbing. His friend withdraws from the project, it’s a breakup.
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“What began as a quest for dialogue became a sad metaphor for the Israeli-Palestinian ‘conflict’: communication broke down and friendship ceased to exist,” indicates Yvann Yagchi on the Palestine Cinematographic Encounters website. , Filming is Existence.
The cause? “Obviously, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, that’s for sure. But I also had the impression that my identity was not recognized, that we did not want to see the Palestinians, “identity, Palestinian history”, explains the director in the 7:30 p.m. of November 28. In the absence of a great reunion, the filmmaker then devotes his energy to reconnecting with his own history, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather.
Palestinian resilience
His documentary has a gently ironic title, “Before, There Was Nothing,” echoing what he has heard all his life: that before Israel, before 1948, there was nothing. “It has always touched me. Afterwards, I also discovered that it is a colonial technique as old as time to say that the land that we are going to colonize is virgin of any human being, of everything, to justify its actions”, indicates Yvann Yagchi.
Palestine is not a dream. Palestine exists. I, as a Palestinian in the diaspora, have often and long dreamed of it
>> See the interview with Yvann Yagchi in the 7:30 p.m. of November 28:
While the filmmaker’s mother passed on her culture, her identity and her roots to him, she no longer wants to hear about Palestine. “It’s a defense mechanism,” underlines the filmmaker who for his part still believes in it: “Resilience is deeply Palestinian. Today, there is a genocide in Gaza and Israel continues to incessantly attack the symbols of culture, of Palestinian identity”.
Proof of the filmmaker’s resilience, his door is always open, in Geneva, for his childhood friend. “But for me, recognition of the existence of Palestinian history is necessary,” he concludes.
Comments collected by Philippe Revaz
Web adaptation: Lara Donnet
The Palestine Cinematographic Meetings, Filming is Existing, Grütli, MEG, Sputnik, Geneva, from November 29 to December 2, 2024.
“Before, there was nothing” by Yvann Yagchi, MEG, Geneva, November 28, 2024 at 9 p.m. Then at Espace Noir, Saint-Imier (BE), November 29 and December 1, 2024; The cinematograph, Lausanne (VD) and the ABC, La Chaux-de-Fonds, December 1, 2024.
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