(SIGNIS / INTERFILM). Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege), directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib (Liban/France/Qatar 2021), was announced as the winner of the interreligious jury prize at the 52nd edition of the festival Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland.
The film portrays people living in the sealed-off Yarmuk refugee camp who assert their humanity in the Syrian civil war despite hunger and lack of prospects, while the humanitarian world remains on the sidelines. When a small choir improvises to the sound of a piano and the roar of the bombings, it echoes the string of laments running through world history.
The interreligious jury watched 13 films of the feature-length film competition online and eventually met in person to decide on the winner. The members of the 2021 jury from Switzerland were Noëmi Gradwohl, Marie-Therese Mäder (President) Jean-Paul Käser, and Majid Movasseghi.
An interreligious jury by INTERFILM and SIGNIS has been present at the festival since 2005. The jury includes a member of INTERFILM, SIGNIS, and Jewish and Muslim faiths.