PALARCTIC is a filmmaking program that aims to bring together aspiring filmmakers from Palestine and Norway to provide them with opportunities to learn from each other and share their experiences. It’s a way for people from two cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives to meet in order to develop new ideas for films. Using filmmaking to promote cultural diversity and help identify cross-cultural exchange.
After relentless months of genocide in Gaza, we were relieved to hear the news of a ceasefire. However, we now understand more than ever the importance of our work in developing, promoting, and preserving Palestinian narratives. As Gaza embarks on the process of mourning and rebuilding, the Tromsø-Gaza Twin City Cooperation at Tvibit remains committed to the urgent need to support Palestinians and their voices.
Six talented filmmakers between the ages of 18-30 years old from different backgrounds will meet, live, and work together to develop their film projects. Three filmmakers from Norway together with another three aspiring Palestinian filmmakers from the diaspora. A unique two-week program designed by the Film House at Tvibit in cooperation with the Palestine Film Institute, the program’s first phase will take place in the last two weeks of June 2025, physically in the Arctic city of Tromsø in Northern Norway.
Through art, we resist. Through film, we remember. Through solidarity, we build
We are proud to launch the inaugural PalArctic Film Program in Gaza’s twin city, Tromsø, Norway, bringing together Palestinian and Norwegian filmmakers for a film development program that builds on the creativity and resilience of Palestinian cinema. The past two years have highlighted the significant challenges that Palestinians face in their struggle for existence. Arts and culture, particularly cinema, have always played a crucial role in preserving the narrative and reflecting the Palestinian experience over the last 78 years. Working in collaboration with the Palestine Film Institute (PFI), the program emphasises the importance of supporting Palestinian films and stories in international forums, and the power of narrative, which is at the heart of all the violence we are witnessing with heavy hearts today.
Devised by Palestinian-Gazan filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly and co-led alongside British-Iranian poet-producer Elhum Shakerifar.
The workshop comprises masterclasses with British-Libyan filmmaker Naziha Arebi, Palestinian filmmaker and archivist Mohanad Yaqubi, and veteran Palestinian director Michel Khleifi – whose masterclasses will also be open to the public.
The 2025 PalArctic participants are: Mahmoud Ahmed, Thea Mendez Okkelmo, Saad Othman, Kassia Rebekka Marin and Diana Nasser.
Palarcic Film program is supported by Arctic Film Norway, Frittord, FHF, Tromsø Municipality & Tvibit – in cooperation with the Palestine Film Institute.
