Palestine Film Fund First Round 2026: Funding News

Palestine Film Institute (PFI) has selected nine projects to receive grants through the Palestine Film Fund (PFF) in its first ever funding round.
 
Launched at Cannes film festival in May 2025, the PFF received 167 submissions for its inaugural funding round. The nine selected projects, including six feature-length films and three short films in various stages of development and production, span diverse themes and genres – from intimate family portraits to explorations of displacement, memory, resistance and resilience – all told through authentic Palestinian perspectives.
 
“The overwhelming response to our first call demonstrates both the urgent need for this fund and the incredible creative breadth of Palestinian storytelling happening globally,” said PFI Executive Board Member Reem Shadid.
 
“These nine projects play a pivotal role in the realisation of our mission to create open spaces for Palestinian filmmakers to share their own stories and images, free from the threat of silencing, censorship and erasure.”
 
The fund's founding partners include IDFA Bertha Fund, International Media Support (IMS), Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), Intuitive Pictures and Sawsan Asfari, with additional support from IRIS. The second call for applications will open in early April 2026, with selections to be announced in late summer 2026.
 
The first-ever PFF jury comprised renowned filmmakers and film professionals including Michel Khleifi (Palestine), Marianne Khoury (Egypt) and Rania Stephan (Lebanon).
 
The jury stated: “In these times of political erasure, it was difficult to prioritise the projects, and we felt that many more were worth supporting. That's why we ultimately chose to make an exception in this first cycle to expand the support to nine projects. The jury was drawn to these final projects for the clarity and integrity of their artistic visions, and for the varied cinematic languages through which they engage Palestinian lived realities.”

PALESTINE FILM FUND FIRST ROUND 2026:  

FEATURE FILMS:

Concrete Land, dir: Asmahan Bkerat (Palestine, Jordan)
Post-production, Documentary
An intimate story of a three-generational Palestinian Bedouin family and their animals on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, as relentless development reshapes their world. Facing eviction, displacement and an uncertain future, they struggle to survive in an environment that is becoming increasingly unliveable and unrecognisable.

+477 Night, dir: Aisha Alqraan (Palestine)
Post-production, Documentary
What does it mean to be sitting among your children and grandchildren, your wife and daughters around you, while the children play inside and outside a tent – and suddenly, a single missile weighing a ton or more falls upon you, erasing every detail of life and turning it into ash and blackened land? From here, our documentary film begins – to tell the story of life before the life of that family.

To Make Things Grow, dir: Yasmin Fedda (UK)
Development, Documentary
Uncovering the story of the visionary agricultural orphanage the Farm School of Deir Amro in Palestine in the 1940s through a collage of archive film, first person testimony, official documents and personal photographs. Pointing towards hope and inspiration to the future, the film explores how the intertwining of land, community and family leave an indelible mark through history.

Three Days And A Third, dir: Rakan Mayasi (Belgium, Palestine, Lebanon)
Post-production, Hybrid
In a valley veiled by fog and tribal codes, two sisters walk into the night not as daughters, but as offerings – where blood, memory, and silence attempt to keep the fire from spreading.

The Story Of The Mountain, dir: Shayma' Awawdeh (Palestine)
Development, Hybrid
In Hebron, occupied Palestine, I film children in an animation workshop imagining a magical mountain that turns into a giant grandmother who can fulfil their dream of destroying the checkpoint at their neighbourhood’s entrance.

Aziza In A Cherished Land, dir: Tareq Khalaf (Palestine)
Post-production, Documentary
Worried about the deteriorating political situation in the West Bank, Aziza asks Tareq to leave Palestine and join the rest of his family in the US, leaving her and his grandmother alone in a state of war. Tareq takes sanctuary in Aziza's garden, observing her seasonal way of living while confronting the difficult decision to leave. 

SHORT FILMS:

Trash, dir: Leen Ms. Kanan (Palestine)
Production, Fiction
At a tense military checkpoint, a Palestinian truck driver's life is threatened when he reaches for his fallen prayer beads, but his small act of courage turns fear into a silent uprising, reclaiming dignity from the routine of oppression.
 
Issa And The Forest, dir: Rama Heib (Palestine)
Development, Animation
Issa is a young boy who lives alone on top of a foggy mountain. He spends his days tending to his horse and special tree that he needs to water every day. One extremely foggy morning, he wakes up to a strange sound outside of his hut and finds a mysterious creature crouched in fear. Before Issa could approach it, the creature runs away and disappears within a nearby forest. Issa decides to follow the creature into the forest, not knowing the dire consequences this decision will have on his future.
 
Where The Light Rests, dir: Islam Tuaima (Palestine)
Production, Documentary
After Asmaa lost her husband and children in the war, she lives alone in her sister's home, surrounded by their memories and her daily rituals. The film documents her inner journey through pain, loss, and faith, as she tries to understand the meaning of her children's existence after their departure. The light in her life becomes a symbol of clarity and hope – revealing that her loved ones have not left the world but are “sleeping in the light”.