Palestine Cinema Days
Mexico/USA
Saturday, November 2
“Aida Returns” by Carol Mansour
6:00pm
Sendas
Chiapas, Mexico
“Aida Returns” by Carol Mansour
8:00pm
Arab American National Museum
Dearborn, Michigan
The events are free to attend.
In 2023, Film Lab Palestine had to postpone their Palestine Cinema Days festival as the war broke out. Instead of canceling the event, the organizers expanded its reach, bringing “Palestine Cinema Days” to audiences worldwide. Organizations globally joined in, committed to upholding free expression and harnessing film as a tool to educate, inspire, and drive audiences toward social action.
This year, ARC is co-organizing two screenings with Acción Palestina Chiapas in Chiapas, Mexico, and the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, to build on this momentum. Acción Palestina Chiapas, through public spaces and cultural centers, raises awareness of human rights abuses faced by Palestinians, seeking to connect Mexicans with Middle Eastern realities often distant from their experience. In Michigan, home to the largest Arab American population in the U.S., the Arab American National Museum—dedicated to telling Arab American stories—has been a center for organized advocacy, with artists and cultural workers calling on leaders to support a ceasefire.
These screenings are purposefully scheduled for November 2, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, to highlight Palestinian voices amid threats of cultural erasure by Israel’s government. Through these events, ARC aims to amplify Palestinian perspectives, ensure that their narrative is heard, and foster solidarity around the world.
About “Aida Returns” by Carol Mansour:
“Aida Returns” is a film centered around journeys: the journey of director Carol Mansour losing her mother, Aida, to Alzehemiers; the journey of Aida “returning” to the Yafa of her youth; and the ultimate journey to return Aida to Yafa where she would finally be put to rest. The audience bears witness to the director navigating the return of Aida’s ashes from Beirut to Palestine. What starts out as a personal journey transforms into a collective one, as friends and strangers work together to honor Aida’s wish.