RAWIYAT MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT
In this section, we will spotlight a woman filmmaker each month, whether from within or outside our collective. She will have the freedom to use this platform to express whatever inspires her at the moment.
AIDA KAADAN
For this month, we have chosen to put the spotlight on Aida Kaadan, a member of our collective, who has chosen to talk to us about the audio visual essay she is working on, called Another Day Shall Come.
How important is it for you to maintain your attachment to your projects, your attachment to creation in the current circumstances in Palestine?
I am attached to my projects as long as I am working on them. Once they are finished, I move on as they move away.
As for the importance of creating in Palestine currently, I believe it’s important, as long as my creation is giving back to my people. We are in desperate need for each other’s voices, and to get rid of individualism, art should be a way to regain touch with our collectiveness, heritage and history as a nation, and be as far as possible from any individual benefits.
How do you see the making of this film evolving, and what are your aspirations for the life it will lead once it's finished?
I am honestly very proud of the way it organically evolved and naturally without being forced in anyway, truly. This is by far the most relaxed and trusting project I worked on.
My aspiration for this project is to have it’s own life outside mine, to act as a time capsule. In 50-100 years, people, our grand-grand-children will watch it and know what their ancestors really felt and believed at the darkest of times, and to be awarde of the insanely complex identity we carry. And that we ARE Palestinians, we speak Palestine, we walk Palestine, we do things in a Palestinian way, and that we have endured a lot, and wish to see another, different day.
How do you manage your relationship with the protagonists, and how do you personally and emotionally deal with your role as filmmaker in relation to the reality you're documenting?
That’s a good question. My protagonists are very different than me, and that’s the whole point. As I went with the project, I came to realize that I have been sitting in my echo chamber for a long time that I started falsely believing that everyone thinks the way I do or that our beliefs and ideologies are all aligned as Palestinians, but the reality that we are currently living in, in addition to the experiment that I am currently working on proved to me that no, we are very different, welcome from different backgrounds and upbringing, but what unites us, is being indigenous.
I worked so hard to love my protagonists and see beyond my beliefs and upbringing and embrace their complexity and even understand it, even though I might not always agree with them. And that is crucial for my film, because if I’m to present the voices of the 1948 Palestinians with all their complexities and dualities, I can’t do so without loving and caring for them.
Specifically for this documentary, how do you manage the search for funding and keep the creative process alive during this often long and tumultuous road?
It’s not easy, to say the least. For the fundings, I keep my eye opened for any opportunity that’s out there. I never stop working on the film. I also use every funding application as a way to test if I know my film well enough at this stage or if I need to sit with it a bit longer. As for the creative process, I keep experimenting with it, as long as I feel in my guts that I can’t live without making this work, I shall continue working on it. I watch a lot of films, try to recreate scenes that I like, and of course read a lot.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
For me, this was my first experience in documentary and in experimental texts in general, and I would say the financing was a long and lonely way. But that is true to filmmaking in general. I knew from the beginning that I don’t want to apply to funds that their stance on what’s going on in Palestine wasn’t clear or were tiptoeing around it, so I made sure I apply to the two biggest Arab region funds. Additionally, I participated in Sheffield MeetMarket, where I was the only Palestinian there, and I had to make sure I set the tone correctly regarding my film and its’ ideology before getting into money talks.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
This film has been changing constantly for the past 11 months. It started with anonymously receiving messages from 8 individuals and then listening to them for the first time. As I was listening to them, images where coming to my mind, I would write them, roam empty Palestine (that was in November and December 2023) and shoot as much images as I can, edit it all together and then decide how to continue. So basically at first it was super organic and completely not premeditated.
Afterwards, I moved into the 2nd phase, which is researching, writing a script and then “casting” anonymous voices which were brought to me by a 3rd party to resonate with the script I wrote. The 3rd phase was deciding on a general feeling/chapters and then actively asking the voices questions where they answer freely and openly. The process is long, now I have more than 5 hours of audio material where I edit into a 40ish minute film!
That’s a good question. My protagonists are very different than me, and that’s the whole point. As I went with the project, I came to realize that I have been sitting in my echo chamber for a long time that I started falsely believing that everyone thinks the way I do or that our beliefs and ideologies are all aligned as Palestinians, but the reality that we are currently living in, in addition to the experiment that I am currently working on proved to me that no, we are very different, welcome from different backgrounds and upbringing, but what unites us, is being indigenous.
I worked so hard to love my protagonists and see beyond my beliefs and upbringing and embrace their complexity and even understand it, even though I might not always agree with them. And that is crucial for my film, because if I’m to present the voices of the 1948 Palestinians with all their complexities and dualities, I can’t do so without loving and caring for them.
Specifically for this documentary, how do you manage the search for funding and keep the creative process alive during this often long and tumultuous road?
This film has been changing constantly for the past 11 months. It started with anonymously receiving messages from 8 individuals and then listening to them for the first time. As I was listening to them, images where coming to my mind, I would write them, roam empty Palestine (that was in November and December 2023) and shoot as much images as I can, edit it all together and then decide how to continue. So basically at first it was super organic and completely not premeditated.
Afterwards, I moved into the 2nd phase, which is researching, writing a script and then “casting” anonymous voices which were brought to me by a 3rd party to resonate with the script I wrote. The 3rd phase was deciding on a general feeling/chapters and then actively asking the voices questions where they answer freely and openly. The process is long, now I have more than 5 hours of audio material where I edit into a 40ish minute film!
How do you manage your relationship with the protagonists, and how do you personally and emotionally deal with your role as filmmaker in relation to the reality you're documenting?
Specifically for this documentary, how do you manage the search for funding and keep the creative process alive during this often long and tumultuous road?
It’s not easy, to say the least. For the fundings, I keep my eye opened for any opportunity that’s out there. I never stop working on the film. I also use every funding application as a way to test if I know my film well enough at this stage or if I need to sit with it a bit longer. As for the creative process, I keep experimenting with it, as long as I feel in my guts that I can’t live without making this work, I shall continue working on it. I watch a lot of films, try to recreate scenes that I like, and of course read a lot.
How do you manage your relationship with the protagonists, and how do you personally and emotionally deal with your role as filmmaker in relation to the reality you're documenting?
That’s a good question. My protagonists are very different than me, and that’s the whole point. As I went with the project, I came to realize that I have been sitting in my echo chamber for a long time that I started falsely believing that everyone thinks the way I do or that our beliefs and ideologies are all aligned as Palestinians, but the reality that we are currently living in, in addition to the experiment that I am currently working on proved to me that no, we are very different, welcome from different backgrounds and upbringing, but what unites us, is being indigenous.
I worked so hard to love my protagonists and see beyond my beliefs and upbringing and embrace their complexity and even understand it, even though I might not always agree with them. And that is crucial for my film, because if I’m to present the voices of the 1948 Palestinians with all their complexities and dualities, I can’t do so without loving and caring for them.
How do you see the making of this film evolving, and what are your aspirations for the life it will lead once it's finished?
I am honestly very proud of the way it organically evolved and naturally without being forced in anyway, truly. This is by far the most relaxed and trusting project I worked on.
My aspiration for this project is to have it’s own life outside mine, to act as a time capsule. In 50-100 years, people, our grand-grand-children will watch it and know what their ancestors really felt and believed at the darkest of times, and to be awarde of the insanely complex identity we carry. And that we ARE Palestinians, we speak Palestine, we walk Palestine, we do things in a Palestinian way, and that we have endured a lot, and wish to see another, different day.
How important is it for you to maintain your attachment to your projects, your attachment to creation in the current circumstances in Palestine?
I am attached to my projects as long as I am working on them. Once they are finished, I move on as they move away.
As for the importance of creating in Palestine currently, I believe it’s important, as long as my creation is giving back to my people. We are in desperate need for each other’s voices, and to get rid of individualism, art should be a way to regain touch with our collectiveness, heritage and history as a nation, and be as far as possible from any individual benefits.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
For me, this was my first experience in documentary and in experimental texts in general, and I would say the financing was a long and lonely way. But that is true to filmmaking in general. I knew from the beginning that I don’t want to apply to funds that their stance on what’s going on in Palestine wasn’t clear or were tiptoeing around it, so I made sure I apply to the two biggest Arab region funds. Additionally, I participated in Sheffield MeetMarket, where I was the only Palestinian there, and I had to make sure I set the tone correctly regarding my film and its’ ideology before getting into money talks.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
For me, this was my first experience in documentary and in experimental texts in general, and I would say the financing was a long and lonely way. But that is true to filmmaking in general. I knew from the beginning that I don’t want to apply to funds that their stance on what’s going on in Palestine wasn’t clear or were tiptoeing around it, so I made sure I apply to the two biggest Arab region funds. Additionally, I participated in Sheffield MeetMarket, where I was the only Palestinian there, and I had to make sure I set the tone correctly regarding my film and its’ ideology before getting into money talks.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
For me, this was my first experience in documentary and in experimental texts in general, and I would say the financing was a long and lonely way. But that is true to filmmaking in general. I knew from the beginning that I don’t want to apply to funds that their stance on what’s going on in Palestine wasn’t clear or were tiptoeing around it, so I made sure I apply to the two biggest Arab region funds. Additionally, I participated in Sheffield MeetMarket, where I was the only Palestinian there, and I had to make sure I set the tone correctly regarding my film and its’ ideology before getting into money talks.
As we all know, financing a documentary is no mean feat, especially if you live in the MENA region. How do you see the influence of international funding policies on the documentary industry in our regions today ?
For me, this was my first experience in documentary and in experimental texts in general, and I would say the financing was a long and lonely way. But that is true to filmmaking in general. I knew from the beginning that I don’t want to apply to funds that their stance on what’s going on in Palestine wasn’t clear or were tiptoeing around it, so I made sure I apply to the two biggest Arab region funds. Additionally, I participated in Sheffield MeetMarket, where I was the only Palestinian there, and I had to make sure I set the tone correctly regarding my film and its’ ideology before getting into money talks.
Specifically for this documentary, how do you manage the search for funding and keep the creative process alive during this often long and tumultuous road?
It’s not easy, to say the least. For the fundings, I keep my eye opened for any opportunity that’s out there. I never stop working on the film. I also use every funding application as a way to test if I know my film well enough at this stage or if I need to sit with it a bit longer. As for the creative process, I keep experimenting with it, as long as I feel in my guts that I can’t live without making this work, I shall continue working on it. I watch a lot of films, try to recreate scenes that I like, and of course read a lot.
How do you manage your relationship with the protagonists, and how do you personally and emotionally deal with your role as filmmaker in relation to the reality you're documenting?
That’s a good question. My protagonists are very different than me, and that’s the whole point. As I went with the project, I came to realize that I have been sitting in my echo chamber for a long time that I started falsely believing that everyone thinks the way I do or that our beliefs and ideologies are all aligned as Palestinians, but the reality that we are currently living in, in addition to the experiment that I am currently working on proved to me that no, we are very different, welcome from different backgrounds and upbringing, but what unites us, is being indigenous.
I worked so hard to love my protagonists and see beyond my beliefs and upbringing and embrace their complexity and even understand it, even though I might not always agree with them. And that is crucial for my film, because if I’m to present the voices of the 1948 Palestinians with all their complexities and dualities, I can’t do so without loving and caring for them.
How do you see the making of this film evolving, and what are your aspirations for the life it will lead once it's finished?
I am honestly very proud of the way it organically evolved and naturally without being forced in anyway, truly. This is by far the most relaxed and trusting project I worked on.
My aspiration for this project is to have it’s own life outside mine, to act as a time capsule. In 50-100 years, people, our grand-grand-children will watch it and know what their ancestors really felt and believed at the darkest of times, and to be awarde of the insanely complex identity we carry. And that we ARE Palestinians, we speak Palestine, we walk Palestine, we do things in a Palestinian way, and that we have endured a lot, and wish to see another, different day.
How important is it for you to maintain your attachment to your projects, your attachment to creation in the current circumstances in Palestine?
I am attached to my projects as long as I am working on them. Once they are finished, I move on as they move away.
As for the importance of creating in Palestine currently, I believe it’s important, as long as my creation is giving back to my people. We are in desperate need for each other’s voices, and to get rid of individualism, art should be a way to regain touch with our collectiveness, heritage and history as a nation, and be as far as possible from any individual benefits.
Can you tell us more about the documentary film you're working on?
Another Day Shall Come asks the question of how can we understand the dual reality and all it entails of the Palestinians of 1948 (Palestinians holding an Israeli ID) with the use of audio messages I have been receiving from anonymous Palestinians for the past 11 months, where they share their thoughts, fears, hopes and confess to their contradictions.
The crew is only me and my director of photography. The film received the AFAC and Doha production grant.
We are expected to finish shooting mid October 2024.
How did this project come about?
On October 7 2023 I woke up at 6am ready to start yet another day of preproduction for my short film Leila Hanem set to be shot on October 14, and that’s when the news started coming in. We immediately understood where things were heading and decided to halt the production.
For a month like every other Palestinian I sat in front of the news seeing a genocide in the making. I also began questioning my role as a Palestinian director, which stories should I tell, in the light of the dehumanization my people as well as the entire Arab nation has been enduring for the last 3 decades, how should I use this powerful tool called cinema to reverse the effect and raise unheard voices?
At the same time Palestinians of 1948 were forbidden by law to express their desent regarding all that’s happening in Gaza, expressing their sadness, fear or objection. The law was used as a weapon against us. Palestinians were kicked out of their workplace, universities for sharing a social media post, and worse, the streets were filled with armed Israelis and with stickers/banners calling for the killing of all Palestinians. And that’s when I decided to break this enforced silence and ask: what happened to us Palestinians of 1948? How did we get to the point where we are succumbing to this fear? And how can we be heard and understood with all of our history’s complexity?
Your first short film, Strawberry, was a fiction. What's your relationship with documentary and how did you get into it?
Yes that’s true. After Strawberry got out I began working as a scriptwriter for podcasts such as DomTak with Sowt and Kerning Cultures, afterwards I became a radio host for 4 years, that’s when I discovered my love for anthropological studies and social studies. The film I was preparing for before October 7 was fiction as well, because as I said, my initial expertise was in fiction writing (which still is), but when everything shifted, and our lives changed, I just went with it, and found myself once again working with audio and image which resonates both with my cinema and radio experience. I also wouldn’t say this is a typical documentary, it’s more an audio-visual essay, or in other scenarios: an experimental documentary.
What obstacles have you encountered in this adventure, firstly as a young woman director, and secondly as a Palestinian director?
The main obstacle was working on this project as the genocide was and still is taking place. Things are changing everyday, and the voices I am recording are changing accordingly as well as myself. The main difficulty is specific to being a Palestinian from the 1948 areas, which is gaining people’s trust to send someone they don’t know their voice messages and entrusting me with their emotions, beliefs, fears and hopes, especially men. Men are generally hard to get to speak up openly.
How do you go about making this documentary? Do you write a lot before shooting, do you shoot in parallel or before writing?
This film has been changing constantly for the past 11 months. It started with anonymously receiving messages from 8 individuals and then listening to them for the first time. As I was listening to them, images where coming to my mind, I would write them, roam empty Palestine (that was in November and December 2023) and shoot as much images as I can, edit it all together and then decide how to continue. So basically at first it was super organic and completely not premeditated.
Afterwards, I moved into the 2nd phase, which is researching, writing a script and then “casting” anonymous voices which were brought to me by a 3rd party to resonate with the script I wrote. The 3rd phase was deciding on a general feeling/chapters and then actively asking the voices questions where they answer freely and openly. The process is long, now I have more than 5 hours of audio material where I edit into a 40ish minute film!