04.03.24, 20:30, Foragers (2022) + Wild Plants of Palestine (2018)

On the Golan Heights, local people search for edible plants. For generations, knowledge of which food sources can be found where and which routes to take to reach them has been passed on. However, the geopolitical machinery of the Israeli occupation makes it increasingly difficult to collect food undisturbed. Given that the region counts as a border region, the wide open countryside becomes a plaything of human power feuds and everyday practices of occupation. Faced with pervasive military and administrative violence, a group of Palestinian food gatherers try to fight against this colonisation of people and environment in their search for forbidden touched plants.

Foragers is a wryly comic and politically fiery look at the roots of power. Filmmaker Jumana Manna starts from themes of botany and biopolitics to make the everyday toll of occupation palpable. Navigating through forests, kitchens, courtrooms and archives, a brutal ecosystem designed to make life difficult for locals is shown. However, the residents' resistance to endless bureaucracy and a preservation policy turned into a weapon counts as a testament va the proliferation of human resistance.

This screening is preceded by video artist Alaa Abu Asad's short film Wild Plants of Palestine.