SAF awards AED 500,000 to films from Palestine and Kashmir

Palestine’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards, Palestine 36 is a period drama. The film follows Yusuf, a young man navigating the political unrest on the streets of Jerusalem as well as Jaffa and Al Basma during the 1936 revolt against colonial rule, one of the largest uprisings against the British Empire. Jacir’s most ambitious project to date, the film features Hiam Abbass, Saleh Bakri, Yasmine Al Massri and Jeremy Irons. Palestine 36 premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2025.

Mohamad W. Ali’s under-production debut feature, Colored Sweets tells the story of two children living in a remote Kashmiri village during the winter of 1995. With Eid around the corner, the siblings embark on a journey to taste the colourful sweets they had only heard about. Full of laughter and wonder, the film is a tender tale about patience, poverty and the quiet resilience of children in strife-torn Kashmir in the 1990s. Born in Syria and educated in India and South Korea, Ali has directed seven short fiction films.

"Palestine 36"

The decision to divide the grant equally between the two film projects was made unanimously by the jury consisting of Sohail Dahdal, (award-winning filmmaker and professor of media, American University of Sharjah), Suha Arraf (award-winning filmmaker and script doctor), Talal Afifi, (founder of the Sudan Film Factory and President of the Sudan Independent Film Festival) and Nawar Al Qassimi (Vice President, Sharjah Art Foundation).

Jury statement

Both films present urgent and resonant stories that promise to make a lasting impact on Arab, Asian and global cinema. They distinguished themselves through their urgency and importance, their confrontation of questions central to our times and the sharp, captivating artistic visions of their directors. We believe it is especially important to support Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 as it is a film that revives buried memory and restores the prerogative of storytelling to its rightful owners, particularly in a time of censorship and propaganda against the Palestinian people. Colored Sweets, Mohamad W. Ali’s debut feature, tells a poignant story of children’s hope and joy amid strife, carrying a universal resonance. The filmed sequences are breathtaking, capturing stunning natural landscapes with poetic cinematography that reflects the director’s sensitivity, passion and genuine love for cinema. We have full confidence in his exceptional talent and ability to deliver a powerful and meaningful cinematic work.