The Fort Wayne Palestine Film Festival
Join us for The Fort Wayne Palestine Film Festival! The festival is a series of four film screenings throughout September 2026. The screenings offer a range of genres and styles, from the Annemarie Jacir’s recently released historical drama, Palestine 36 to Elia Suleiman’s 2002 classic, Divine Intervention. Films will be screened at various venues across Fort Wayne.
All screenings are free of charge!
1. Festival Opening: PALESTINE 36
Fort Wayne Cinema Center
437 E. Berry Street
Saturday, September 5, 7:00pm
Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe, some arriving with nefarious Zionist-colonial ambitions, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest, longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, history spirals towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and future of the entire region. Free admittance!
2. ASSORTED SHORTS
PawPaw House
716 Jackson Street
Friday, September 11, 7:00pm
Documentary, Animation, Experimental, Drama, Historical
This program will feature a curated selection of short films, both new and old, from or about Palestine across a range of genres, styles, and topics. Free admittance!
3. THE WANTED 18
ACPL Main Branch, Library Theater
Saturday, September 19, 2:00pm
Told through animation, drawings, interviews archival footage, and re-enactments, an astonishing true story from the First Palestinian Intifada: the Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared “a threat to the national security of the state of Israel.” Free admittance!
Special guest: Our good friend, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh (pre-recorded interview), was a 2025 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is a distinguished Palestinian academic, author, researcher, and advocate for social justice, currently serving as a Professor of Biology at Bethlehem University and the founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability.
4. Festival Closing: DIVINE INTERVENTION
Swinney Park Pavillion
1600 W. Jefferson Pavillion located west of the bridge
Saturday, September 26, 7:00pm
A surreal, black comedy consisting largely of interconnected vignettes of Palestinian life in Nazareth and East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. Life goes on until it doesn’t. Free admittance!
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an outdoor screening so we suggest that attendees bring lawn chairs, blanket, bug spray, and other items they might want for an outdoor screening.