Palestine 36 actor Zaid Ghazal raises his hands painted with the message 'Stop the genocide' while walking the red carpet outside Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto Friday. (Getty Images)
The Toronto International Film Festival became a stage for protest on Friday as the cast and crew of Palestine 36 used the world premiere to call for an end to violence in Gaza. Powerful images, emotional performances, and a clear political message marked the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall.
Actor Karim Daoud Anaya carried a plastic bag dripping with fake blood. Inside it lay a camera and a Palestinian keffiyeh. Fellow cast and crew members waved Palestinian flags and displayed signs reading “Stop the genocide.” The moment came exactly 700 days after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing military assault on Gaza.
Revisiting History Through Cinema
Palestine 36 transports audiences back to the 1930s, before the creation of Israel, when the territory — then called British Palestine — was under British colonial control. The film tells the story of Yusuf, a young man navigating life amid the Palestinian uprising against colonial rule after the First World War.
The drama features an international cast that includes Jeremy Irons, Hiam Abbas, Liam Cunningham, and several emerging actors. Shot entirely in the Middle East, the project reflects director Annemarie Jacir’s determination to ground the story in authenticity.
Rare Archival Footage Brings Past to Life
Jacir revealed that the film leans heavily on rare archival footage from the 1930s, which she later colourized. For her, it was vital that the story did not feel like a distant relic.
“I didn’t want the movie to seem like something of the past,” she explained. “The struggle for Palestinian sovereignty is still going on.”
Filming faced setbacks as the 2023 war forced much of the production to move to Jordan. Archival material became even more important. “Once the genocide started and we couldn’t film in certain areas, the footage gained new meaning,” Jacir said. “It allowed us to capture places that were being destroyed and no longer exist.”
Palestine 36 producer Ossama Bawardi wears a Palestinian flag pin on the red carpet at TIFF on Friday. (The Canadian Press)
A Conflict With Lasting Impact
The creation of Israel in 1948, following the Second World War and the Holocaust, divided the region into Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The mass displacement of Palestinians, remembered as the Nakba or “catastrophe,” and decades of subsequent wars redrew the boundaries of the Palestinian Territories.
Today, Canada and several Western countries still do not formally recognize Palestine as a state. However, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in August that Canada, along with the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Australia, would recognize Palestinian statehood at the upcoming UN General Assembly — provided certain conditions are met.
If realized, they would join 147 UN member nations that already acknowledge Palestine.
Calls for Urgent Global Action
On the TIFF red carpet, Jacir delivered a strong appeal to world leaders. “I never imagined I would be here during a genocide, a genocide of our own people,” she said. “If governments do not act now, it is a complete failure on their part. Now is the time. There is no tomorrow.”
Director Annemarie Jacir says the film took eight years to make. (Reuters)
Her remarks followed a growing international debate. While several humanitarian organizations have described Israel’s military actions in Gaza as genocide, governments, including Canada’s, have not used the term officially. In January 2024, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. This week, members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the UN’s legal definition of genocide.
Israel has denied these accusations and rejected claims of famine in Gaza made by a UN-backed monitor.
From left, Palestine 36 actors Yasmine Al Massri, Karim Daoud Anaya and Zaid Ghazal pose with a plastic bag containing a camera and a Palestinian keffiyeh dripping in fake blood as they call for an end to Israel's war in Gaza on the red carpet for the film's world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. (Getty Images via CBC News)
A Story Beyond the Screen
The ongoing war’s toll has been catastrophic. According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 during the October 2023 attack. Many hostages were later released, but 48 remain in Gaza, with 20 believed alive.
Since then, Palestinian health officials report more than 63,000 deaths and 160,000 injuries in Gaza from Israeli strikes. Residential areas, hospitals, and refugee camps have suffered widespread destruction.
For Jacir, the film is more than art — it is testimony. Her past works Salt of the Sea, When I Saw You, and Wajib were also submitted for Oscar consideration. Palestine 36 has now been chosen as Palestine’s official entry for the international feature category at the Academy Awards.
The film will screen again on Sunday at TIFF Lightbox, offering audiences another chance to experience a story that blends history, memory, and urgent calls for justice.
