UCL Anthropology graduation film premieres at Sheffield DocFest

Lamees' film, 'Dancing Palestine', was one of four films featured in the shorts programme, Body as Archive, on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 June.

'Dancing Palestine' explores how young Palestinians turn to their traditional folk dance, the dabke, to assert their existance as their identity continues to be threatened with erasure.

From its humble beginnings as a worker’s dance, the dabke has come to represent an evolving history of cultural resistance. 'Dancing Palestine' is a document of this embodiment of collective memory – as those who piece together a dabke choreography also piece together their identities. Together with the film, the dabke is a testament to Palestinians’ deep love of life and an insistent act of contribution to the archive of Palestine in the present.

“As someone who grew up in the Middle East, I witnessed the dabke erupt around me on multiple celebratory occasions. The energy was contagious and whilst it was predominantly happy, there was an undeniable political undertone in the movements and song lyrics, and I wanted to understand the significance of this further. My biggest takeaways from working on this film are that the dabke is a way to maintain normalcy in circumstances that are far from normal, it contributes to Palestinian archive, and it is a reminder that Palestinians exist. I'm honored to have been given the platform to share this story at a time in which it is incredibly crucial to keep talking about Palestine."
Lamees Almakkawy, Creative Documentary by Practice MFA alumna

It's a stunning achievement for Lamees and very much deserved. We wish her the best with the rest of the film's run on the festival circuit. No doubt this will lead to more exciting opportunities in the future, and we can't wait to invite her back to screen the film at UCL!"
Ellen Evans, Creative Documentary by Practice MFA programme convenor

Find out more about studying the Creative Documentary by Practice MFA.