Sci-fi documentary Lyd highlights alternative reality where Nakba never happened

ISTANBUL

Lyd, a sci-fi documentary about events that took place during the Nakba (Great Catastrophe) in the once-thriving Palestinian city of Lyd, known as Lod in Israel, draws attention to the possibility of an alternative future in which the Nakba did not happen and people of all religions live together in Palestine.

American filmmaker Sarah Ema Friedland and Palestinian writer and filmmaker Rami Younis told Anadolu about the story behind their co-directed film and why it was important to depict a future like that.

Friedland, who grew up in a Jewish family and started filming about nine years ago, said the documentary has been screened in many countries such as the UK, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the US, Canada, Kenya and Italy.

“I am an American Jew, and we are not taught anything about the Nakba,” she said.

“It's like it's purposefully erased from our understanding of this situation.

“So in 2015, I read an essay about what happened in Lyd during the Nakba, and it completely blew my mind and kind of reoriented my whole understanding of everything,” she added.

“And so I've been a documentary filmmaker for a long time, and I thought okay, let me use my storytelling skills to broaden this history, especially within my community.”

Mentioning that one of her friends introduced her to Younis, she said they decided to start their collaboration after that.

Friedland further highlighted their mutual passion for science fiction, which often explores themes of liberation and envisions equitable futures through creative hypotheses. According to her, they expressed their desire to address the Nakba, a tragic event, in a unique and non-confrontational manner, seeing it as an innovative approach for their film project.

American fear of ‘everything’ pro-Palestinian

Noting that the documentary was premiered at the Amman International Film Festival in August 2023, Friedland said they were awarded the Best Documentary Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Award from the International Critics Association.

“It was a huge success, but then Oct. 7 happened. We had all these things lined up. Many of them got cancelled,” she said, including the Palestinian Cinema Days.

Referring to the fact that there are no restrictions on showing the film in the US, Friedland said it was nevertheless difficult to get mainstream festivals to screen their film, as she thinks there is a lot of fear in the US about anything that advocates Palestinian rights.

Claiming that the reason might be the Zionist lobby’s power over America, she emphasized how impressed she is about the pro-Palestinian movement in the society in general, describing it as “a historic movement.”

Lyd symbolizes history of whole Palestinian nation

Younis, who is originally from Lyd, pointed out that in the documentary, the city is portrayed as a character that speaks directly to the audience.

“I am a cultural activist and someone who’s been advocating for the Palestinian people.”

“Since I could remember myself, I often find myself humanizing us to the world because for some reason, we need to keep reminding everyone that we are equal human beings, for Palestinians are equal human beings,” he said.

“I think we took it to the next level with this film when we not only humanized ourselves and we humanized the space we live in,” he said.

“So we decided to give a voice, to give her (Lyd) the honor to tell the story of what happened to her, what is still happening to her, what could happen to her in an ultimate reality in which the atrocities of 1948 never happened.”

Describing the 5,000-year-old city as “a forgotten star” and “a forgotten diva,” Younis said the main message of their film is to tell people to listen to their story, as it “symbolizes the story of Palestine and the entire Palestinian people.”

He also referred to archival footage of Palmah soldiers describing in cold blood how they targeted a mosque in Lyd.

“The thing about these testimonies, to the average Israeli, they're nothing to be ashamed about.

“They can’t see any wrongdoing, and they always try to justify their actions, as everyone can understand what happened in 2023, 2024 and what is currently happening in Gaza,” he said.

“So we just gained access to the footage. We have a release, and now we can use it too, and we show how they talk about in a such a nonchalant way about what they did and how they bombed the mosque and how they killed people there,” he said.

Underlining that this is “one of the most important things in the film,” he said: “I think it's important for people to understand when they watch this is that we are torn.”

“I mean, on one hand, we are taught nothing about our history because we are all products of the Israeli school system,” he said, adding they are not allowed to learn anything about the Nakba, but all the children are taught the Jewish history from “the Zionist perspective.”

“And that’s problematic.”

Israel asserts itself as the sole democracy in the Middle East, yet the treatment of its 2 million Palestinian citizens contradicts this claim, he said.

Discrepancies in treatment are apparent between Palestinians and Jewish citizens, notably in towns like Lyd, where Palestinians face land confiscation, home demolitions and unequal rights and opportunities, he said.

*Writing by Merve Berker