IN CINEMA

LYD
Wednesday, November 20th at 7PM
Tickets: $15 General Admission / $7 Reduced Price
Presented in partnership with the National Jazz Museum of Harlem

Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland, 79 min. 2024

The film Lyd (the Arabic name of Lod, a city now in Israel) is about a 5,000-year-old bustling Palestinian town that was taken over when Israel was established in 1948. An exploration of what it once was, and what it is now, in the context of the continuing conflicts and the war in Gaza, Lyd’s excavation of one community’s complex history offers us not only lessons, but possible futures.

As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion, while vivid animations envision an alternate reality where the same characters live free from the trauma of the past and the violence of the present. Using never-before-seen archival footage of the Israeli soldiers who carried out the massacre and expulsion, the personified city explains that these events were so devastating that they fractured reality, and now there are two Lyds — one occupied and one free. As the film cuts between fantastical and documentary realities, it ultimately leaves the viewer questioning what future should prevail.

Made by a Palestinian from Lyd and a Jewish American, Lyd provides much-needed context for this moment, as it goes deep into the history of the Nakba from the perspective of Palestinians who survived. The film imagines an alternate reality where Palestine was never occupied and Palestinians of all religions (Muslims, Christians, and Jews) live in a liberated Palestine. Narrated by Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi who personifies the city, the viewer is guided through the lifespan of a five-thousand-year-old city and its residents.

Banned by Israel’s Ministry of Culture and Sports before a planned screening in Jaffa in October 2024 for allegedly “inciting violence,” LYD is a cinematic achievement in speculative nonfiction and political imagination. In response to state censorship, Palestinian filmmaker, Rami Younis, stated: “If there’s one thing I learned as a Palestinian journalist and artist, is that if they go this viciously after your work, it means it’s vital to the moment.”

REVIEWS

“The story of Lyd is the story of Palestine. The film that bears its name confronts the horrors of what is, without losing sight of what could be—a vital exercise in political imagination.” —Arielle Angel, Editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents

“Ambitiously tackling perhaps the most controversial geopolitical issue in the world, and doing so in under 80 minutes, the filmmakers offer a provocative cri de coeur for a free Palestine. A difficult and unflinching film, but also as hopeful as one could be in the current climate.” —POV Magazine

“A stunning movie that changes how we understand the past and gives us a way to imagine a radically different future… a must-see film.” —Amahl Bishara, Associate Professor, Anthropology, Tufts University

“Never loses sight of these slippery questions about what is, and what could be, achieved through the power of our collective imagination.” —In Review Online

“A poignant, compellingly speculative film… LYD offers a deep political education through eyewitness accounts, and personal stories, and an unwavering look into the heart of empire and the ongoing project of settler colonization. A must-see.” —Autumn Brown, Co-Host, How to Survive the End of the World

Post-screening discussion with filmmakers Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland!