National Pride: From Jericho to Gaza
Sven Augustijnen, 2025, 93 min

Followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker

National Pride: From Jericho to Gaza accompanies Hassan Al Balawi, a Palestinian diplomat based in Brussels, on his return to his homeland in 2019 for the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. Sven Augustijnen’s camera follows Al Balawi closely, tracing his journey from Jericho to the Gaza border whilst bearing witness to his encounters with Palestinian dignitaries, Arafat’s family and a former Israeli MP who was once engaged in the peace process. Traversing an occupied West Bank where every checkpoint, every landscape, bears the imprint of broken promises, the film draws a subjective portrait of the Palestinian liberation struggle, embodied by Al Balawi’s quiet dignity.

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Screening as part of Open City Documentary Festival