Screen/Society--"Lyd" (Rami Younis and Sarah Emma Friedland, 2023)

Film Screening:

"LYD"
(Rami Younis and Sarah Emma Friedland, 2023, 79 min, Palestine, Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles, DCP)

LYD (the Arabic name of Lod, a city now in Israel) is about a 5,000-year-old bustling Palestinian town that was taken over when Israel was established in 1948. An exploration of what it once was, and what it is now, in the context of the continuing conflicts and the war in Gaza, LYD's excavation of one community's complex history offers us not only lessons, but possible futures.

Made by a Palestinian from Lyd and a Jewish American, LYD provides much-needed context for this moment, as it goes deep into the history of the Nakba from the perspective of Palestinians who survived. The film imagines an alternate reality where Palestine was never occupied and Palestinians of all religions (Muslims, Christians, and Jews) live in a liberated Palestine. Narrated by Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi who personifies the city, the viewer is guided through the lifespan of a five-thousand-year-old city and its residents.

"The story of LYD is the story of Palestine. The film that bears its name confronts the horrors of what is, without losing sight of what could be-a vital exercise in political imagination." - Arielle Angel, Editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents

"A poignant, compellingly speculative film... LYD offers a deep political education through eyewitness accounts, and personal stories, and an unwavering look into the heart of empire and the ongoing project of settler colonization. A must-see." - Autumn Brown, Co-Host, How to Survive the End of the World