Slovak premiere of the film WHERE OLIVE TREES WEEP + discussion

Directed by: Maurizio Benazzo, Zaya Benazzo, 2024, 104 min., English spoken + Czech subtitles

Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice. We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We witness Dr. Gabor Maté offering trauma-healing work for a group of women who have been tortured in Israeli prisons. Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.

This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?

Cinema can be a powerful force for change. Beyond mere education, our goal is to truly move hearts and minds and inspire audiences to echo the calls for freedom, equality and dignity that have gone unanswered for too long.

The screening of this film is a modest contribution to our dream of ending the occupation in Palestine, achieving equal rights and fair treatment for the Palestinian people, and spreading healing for all intergenerational cycles of trauma in the region.

The screening is part of a project funded by the European Union.
Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council, Bratislava City Foundation and Bratislava Old Town. The digitalization of Kino inak was financially supported by the Audiovisual Fund.