At a time of conflict and suffering, it is incumbent on us to understand different perspectives and useful to take a longer historical view. Lyd is the Arab name for 5000-year-old town that is now the Israeli city of Lod. Made by a Palestinian and a Jewish American, the film excavates the ancient history of this trading centre, leading up to a detailed examination of events in 1948, the “nakbar”, as recounted by Israeli veterans and exiled Palestinians — while animated sequences envision an alternate reality where Lyd flourishes as a free contemporary metropolis, home to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.
A harrowing watch, but a vital one if the goal is gaining greater understanding the history of Israel-Palestine conflict.
ScreenHub
Lyd weaves between past, present, and future as the documentary offers a rhythmic look at the life cycles of the city… It’s a difficult and unflinching film, but also as hopeful and one could be in the current climate.
Pat Mullen, POV magazine
Rami Younis & Sarah Ema Friedland
Maisa Abd Elhadi
Palestine/UK/USA
2023
In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
Rami Younis, Sarah Ema Friedland, Eyas Salman
Cinematography
Sarah Ema Friedland
Editor
Eyas Salman
Animation
Eslam Mazhar, Mahmoud Hemeda, Kareem Essam, Amany Hesham, Mazen Attalla
Original Music
Haitham Bishara
Art Director
Ahmad Thabit
Also Playing
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.