I Remember 1948

Featuring the music of Joseph Tawadros

As screened at the Sydney Film Festival and on SBS Television

24 mins • experimental documentary • 2005 Rated G

In Australia’s first bilingual Arabic/English film, four elders give eye-witness accounts of the tumultuous days of Al Nakba, the catastrophe, May 15th, 1948, and its aftermath. As children and young adults, they and their families were among 750,000 Palestinians fleeing for their lives, in the drive to enlarge the recently created State of Israel.

The stories told by these speakers are poignant, unexpected and sometimes surprising, expressing not only the tragedies but also the small miracles which occur in a human catastrophe of such dimensions. Prevented from returning to their homes, the speakers lived as refugees, eventually making their way to Australia. Their continued longing to see their homeland eloquently expresses the feelings of the dispossessed everywhere, and gives this film a universal dimension.

Director   Fadia Abboud

Music       Joseph Tawadros

Screenings include

Sydney Film Festival
Brisbane International Film Festival
Sydney Arab Film Festival
Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
Chicago Palestine Film Festival
UNHCR Refugee Film Festival (Cambodia-Japan)
Washington DC Palestine Centre Summer Series