The Tunisian actor and director speaks about his role in the new film, the importance of countering myths about Palestine, and his forthcoming directorial project, Sophia
As the struggle for Palestinian freedom has become a focal point in mainstream public consciousness over the last two years, Palestinian cinema has become an ever-more important medium to challenge conventional media narratives. Polls suggest that the British public is more sympathetic towards the Palestinian cause than ever before. The era of apathy and ignorance is officially over, and we are seeing a growing public interest in books and art that speak to the context of present-day events.
Palestine 36 is a unique period drama directed by Annemarie Jacir, depicting Palestine in the late 1930s under British Mandate rule, a crucial part of political history often omitted from school curricula. The audience is transported back in time through visuals of lush greenery, rolling hills and real, colourised archival footage of historic Palestine. The film offers a rare insight into the years that followed the Balfour Declaration in 1917, where Britain famously pledged its support for the Zionist movement, a moment in time that changed the course of history.
Colonial violence and the onset of early Zionist settlement are seen through a variety of characters who occupy different places across Palestinian society, from farmers in rural villages fighting against displacement, to British Mandate politicians and generals, to wealthy journalist Amir, who runs a newspaper publisher in Jerusalem, played by Tunisian actor and director Dhafer L’Abidine. “It’s so important to understand where this problem started, and to understand the history of Palestine and the people there. It’s been said that it was a land with no people, but actually, it’s not true,” he tells Dazed. The plurality of Palestinian society is seen through these interwoven stories, amid an unsettling backdrop of looming destruction, with audiences knowing how the story plays out in the present day.
L’Abidine says that he felt proud to be offered a role in a film written about a struggle that has continued for over 100 years now. “People don’t know some really important periods of the history of Palestine. And one of those is the revolt that happened between 1936 and 1939,” he says. The film has certainly come at a crucial time, as people seek to understand the historic origins of Palestinian occupation and displacement. L’Abidine tells Dazed that production began before October 7, but that it’s now “even more important” because of what’s happening. Palestine 36 is Palestine’s official nomination for this year’s Oscars, and the film has received a positive reception at film festivals, including a 15-minute standing ovation at the world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival from “cinema goers who really understand film”.
L’Abidine has found success as an actor in both the West and the Arab world, from Sex and the City 2 to becoming a household name in Tunisia after starring in the TV series Maktoub. He was born in Tunisia in 1972, and before he established himself as an actor, he played football in the Tunisian professional football league as a young man. He describes the “tough period” he found himself in between stopping football and finding something else to channel his passion into: “Football for me was a big passion. And I wanted to do something else that I’m passionate about. I was very shy,” he says.
L’Abidine moved to the UK at the age of 26 to study English, and ended up enrolling in the Birmingham School of Acting. “[Coincidentally], the first job I got after leaving drama school [was] a show called Dream Team on Sky TV. And it was a football drama. I played a French footballer. So it was a nice transition in a way from being a footballer, learning my craft as an actor, but also doing that in something that I really relate to,” he says.
L’Abidine describes that when starting in the acting industry in the UK, it was about getting “a small part in anything”. But as he progressed into his career, his aspirations evolved. “The more you do, the more your dreams get bigger. I started working afterwards in Tunisia, then Egypt, Lebanon, then Saudi, and then I moved into directing, writing, producing,” he says. “Of course, the dream changes, but I think I’m trying to really enjoy the journey, which is the little moments every day – what I’m doing, what I’m learning and the people I’m meeting.”
L’Abidine says that he was interested in directing even before he pursued acting, but fate and finances decided his path for him. “I went to the London Film School in Covent Garden. And then I remember they told me the price for the year. And I said, you know what, I can’t afford to study directing, let’s stick to acting, it’s a bit cheaper. And that’s what I did. That was 26 years ago,” he recalls.
L’Abidine’s latest feature film Sophia – a drama which he wrote, directed and starred in – explores Tunisian-British cultural exchange through a British mother and Tunisian father searching for answers when their daughter is kidnapped in Tunisia. “I think the idea came about because I got bored with the stereotypes of how we see the Arabs and how we portray the Arabs,” he says. “We went through a wave after 9/11, where it was just all about terrorism. And actually, we are no different from anyone else. European or Arab or Muslim or Christian or whatever. It’s all the same, really. We have the same aspirations, the same, you know, relations – different ways, maybe different cultures, but still the same.”
“My wife is English, my daughter is mixed, and my neighbours are mixed, different cultures and stuff,” he continues. “That’s the UK I see, but I don’t see it when it comes to films, when it comes to TV series [...] So I thought, from my experience, I would like to tell stories that maybe haven’t been told as they are. Sometimes our characters just, like, support from the outside. But actually, they are in the story. We are in the story all the time.”
Palestine 36 is out now