Silk Threads (Unknown)
Origin: Unknown | Documentary | Director: Walaa Saadeh | 15 minutes
Threads of Silk or The Palestinian Thobe- a Nation’s Journey”
Dir. Walaa Saadeh
The film's director, Walaa Saadeh (29 years), describes the idea of the film “I was provoked by many attempts by the Zionist occupation to steal our Palestinian identity, the latest of which was when the Israeli Minister of Culture wore our national dress, the embroidered thobe, in a photo taken in the al-Aqsa mosque. In an attempt to revive our heritage and emphasize our identity, and to spread this culture to future generations, I will not forget this young girl who expressed her enthusiasm after watching the movie by taking out and wearing the old Palestinian dress in her wardrobe because she realized the importance of its heritage and national value, after she had considered it old fashioned".
The leading actress of "Silk Threads " caught Saade’s eye due to her special perspective on clothes and the homeland, "Um Faraj, a 97-year-old who lived in Jaffa before the Nakba, and had a very strong story about her life with embroidery and the garment that was parallel to the story of the entire country".
Not only that, what Palestinians wear expresses what their jobs are and the nature of their cities: "Every area in Palestine has a different way of embroidering the thobe and use different colour thread, for example the Ramallah thobe is white because it’s an urban area and a main city and its residents are not employed in agriculture thus can keep it clean, unlike in the villages or in the desert where they use black fabric, because they work the land and are sheep herders. Bachelorettes do not wear a garment embroidered with red threads, because it is striking, and decent girls should not draw attention to themselves, while widows wear a blue coloured thobe which is a declaration of mourning."
As to her overall experience in the film industry, Saadeh said: "Shashat" was like a lifeline for me and for many girls who want to study cinema and direct film, there was no such organization in Palestine that helped girls become directors, some of them may be allowed to travel to study cinema abroad. But to study film within Palestine was impossible due to the lack of cinema institutes and film theatres.
She explained: "Shashat helped me break the siege imposed by the occupation on my attempts to get out of Gaza, despite receiving scholarships to study cinema, art residencies and workshops in Europe over the past two years, but every time I tried to get out the occupation would stop me. They were difficult years, and sometimes I felt that my spirit broke down, and my soul is worn out every time you go to the checkpoint to wait for the ever rejected exit permit. It kills your spirit and you become miserable but when you are granted an opportunity through a national organization, Shashat helps you produce and distribute a film in a lot of places, effectively allowing me to respond to the occupation. They cannot prevent us, we will keep making films, and our voices will be heard despite the occupation”.
As to family restrictions and the chauvinistic view of women working in filmmaking, she said: "There is awareness in Palestinian society, it is not fanatical society, but the patriarchal view still persists especially in Gaza due to the political situation that imposed religious political norms and ideas, which curtailed and reduced the activities of girls working in media but Gaza is evolving for the better. Girls are completing their university education now, unlike in previous years. The outlook is slowly changing but some people remain in favour of marginalizing the role of women.”
As for her personal experience with her family, Saada says: "My experience was different, I didn’t tell my family I was making films or studying, I live in a village called Beit Hanoun and the hurdles placed on girls are burdensome, always questioned “where are you going, why are you late? I wanted to produce a film I was happy with and then I told my mother and brother first, and then my father came, and the film impressed them all. They were so entrenched in the resistance and thought that making films was frivolous but then they saw the film about embroidery and thobes they realized this was serious work, and it was my dream to make films in the future that really capture the Palestinian conditions, our human condition- a film about us wanting to die and for them to shoot us or us to shoot them, as filmmakers we need to push out of these boxes.
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