Coming Into Being and Flowing Into Exile: History and Trends in Palestinian Film-Making.

Almost two decades ago, Edward Said suggested that the existence of a “center ” (or a “meta-narrative”) to describe the Palestinian experience, was not just missing, but would likely fall short: [w]e have no dominant theory of Palestinian culture, history, society; we cannot rely on one central images (exodus, holocaust, long march); there is no completely coherent discourse adequate to us, and I doubt whether at this point, if someone could fashion such a discourse, we could be adequate for it. Miscellaneous, the spaces here and there in our midst include but do not comprehend the past; they represent building without overall purpose, around an uncharted and only partially surveyed territory. Without a center. Atonal (Said, 1986; 129). As Said suggests, it is impossible to define Palestine or Palestinians in any coherent, holistic sense, for neither is monolithic or simple. Palestine can signify a biblical geography or the ever-shrinking Territories promised to the Palestinian Authority in the Oslo Accords. Most maps, no matter their date, do not denote Palestine. Similarly ambiguous, Palestinians can signify people living in Jerusalem with an Israeli ID card, or in the refugee camps of Lebanon.