
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
Armand
When six-year-old Armand is accused of abusing another boy, his mother is called in for a school meeting. Bracing and bold, this is a lacerating drama from writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann).
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.
Ennio
Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore proves the perfect filmmaker to craft this loving tribute to one of the all-time greats: composer Ennio Morricone (1928-2020).
Image: Courtesy of Music Box Films
Sugarcane
"Deeply impactful", Sugarcane is an important contribution to the ongoing process of Truth & Reconciliation in this country, a compassionate, sensitive account of the investigation into residential school abuse at Williams Lake, BC.