Bridging Cultures Through Cinema
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.
2026
We are proud to launch the second edition of the PalArctic Film Program in Tromsø, Gaza’s twin city, bringing together Palestinian and Norwegian filmmakers for a film development program that builds on the creativity and resilience of Palestinian cinema. 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 the Palestinian struggle.
As this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Friendship Agreement between Tromsø and Gaza, we are happy to welcome nine talented filmmakers to Tromsø to collaborate on their film projects. This year’s group will consist of four Norwegian/Nordic filmmakers and five Palestinian filmmakers. The first week will coincide with the Nordic Youth Film Festival, during which participants will take part in the NUFF film workshop to create a short film together within one week. The second week will focus on developing the filmmakers’ submitted film projects.
This year’s PalArctic participants are: May Herbawe, Regina Steen Bergman, Sheryn Yidi, Danielle da Silva, Loai Awwad, Shahd Issa, Naoki Kawai, Salam Husari, Mohammed Abujayyab.
In addition to the nine filmmakers present in Tromsø, a group of four filmmakers will join us online from Gaza and take part in both parts of the program. The Palarctic Film program is supported by Arctic Film Norway, Frittord, Tromsø Kommune & Tvibit – in cooperation with the Palestine Film Institute.
Through art, we resist. Through film, we remember. Through solidarity, we build.
Selected Participants
Gaza Group
We are thrilled to welcome an online group from Gaza to this year’s Palarctic Film Program. Over the course of our film workshop challenge, this talented team will develop a film from concept to the big screen. During the second week, they will dive deeper into intensive project development, refining their submitted film project with our creative consultants and workshop leaders.
We are proud to introduce our Gaza filmmakers: Samer Qatta, Hosam Abu Dan, Mohammed Al Shareif, and Khalid Abu Alqomssan.
Mentors and workshop leaders
We are excited to introduce the three mentors supporting the Palarctic journey during the first week of the program, where participants will make a short film from idea to finished film in one week. We are grateful to have them as part of the Palarctic community and look forward to learning from their knowledge and experience.
Marte B. Aasen
Marte is a North Norwegian film editor, ethnographic film teacher, and festival manager. Her background is diverse, with a strong base in documentary filmmaking. After working in film for several years, she graduated from Stockholm University of the Arts in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in film editing. Since then, she has edited the award-winning TV series 113 and the South African documentary !AITSA. Inspired by people and cultures, she is always looking for the next story to share.
Elisabeth Rasmussen Elisabeth is a Sámi-Norwegian filmmaker and founder of Wonderline Productions. Her debut feature, The Heart of Bruno Wizard, was acquired by Netflix and SVT following screenings at more than 30 international film festivals. Her personal short film, Phoenix, was nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Award®-qualifying Norwegian Short Film Festival before being broadcast by NRK and Altibox. She has directed Gullruten Award-nominated television, co-produced feature films in Argentina, and written about human rights for Grist Magazine. Her second feature documentary, We Are Stardust, premiered in competition at Thessaloniki and CPH:DOX in spring 2026 and is currently screening on the international festival circuit.
May Odeh
May is an award-winning Palestinian producer, filmmaker, founder of Odeh Films in Palestine, and co-founder of Mayana Films with Berlin-based producer Zorana Mušikić. May’s work has been showcased and awarded at major international festivals, including Cannes, such as : Yetsrday The Eye Didnt Sleep (Un Certain Regard), Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Un Certain Regard). A Useful Ghost, a film she co-produced, won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize, and Safe Exit in Panorama in Berlinale 2026. May is also the producer of Habibi Hussein by Alex Bakri, which premiered at Busan 2025, won the Best Film Prize at the Cairo International Film Festival 2025, and received the Audience Award (3rd Place) at IFFR 2026. May was named MENA Talent of the Year 2020 by Variety. She is known for producing 200 Meters, Hanging Gardens, Thousand Fires, Notes on Displacement, and more. Her films have been sold to numerous territories, major TV networks, and platforms. In addition to her production work, May curates the Palestinian Film Platform, which celebrates and promotes Palestinian cinema worldwide
2nd week workshop leaders
We are very happy to start the second week of Palarctic film program!
This week is dedicated to the participants’ film projects, with daily masterclasses, one-to-one mentoring sessions, and opportunities to develop their ideas in a creative environment. Throughout this week, participants will present their projects, share insights into their creative process, and receive feedback from our mentors in Tromsø.
Meet our inspiring workshop guests and the team behind the PalArctic Film Program.
Rasha Salti is a researcher, writer and curator of art and film. She is also the commissioning editor for La Lucarne at ArteFrance.
Christoph Terhechte studied political science and journalism in Hamburg and went on to work as a film critic in Paris and Berlin. He has been the appointed director of the International Forum of New Cinema at the Berlinale from 2001-2018. He has served as artistic director of the Marrakech International Film Festival before becoming artistic and managing director of DOK Leipzig from 2020 to January 2026.
Elhum Shakerifar Elhum Shakerifar is a producer, curator, poet and translator. She runs the London-based company Hakawati (‘storyteller’ in Arabic) and sits on the executive board of the Palestine Film Institute, where she also co-curates the Palestine Film Platform.
Mohanad Yaqubi is a filmmaker, producer and co-founder of Idioms Film, an independent production company based in Ramallah since 2004. He is also a member of Subversive Film and since 2017 he has been a professor and researcher at the KASK School of the Arts in Ghent. His work analyzes politics, aesthetics and cinema, considering imperfect archives as spaces for connecting living memories.
Team
Mohamed Jabaly (Project Leader) is a filmmaker, producer, and artist. His award-winning work is entwined with the beauty and defiant spirit of his homeland.
Daniela Toma (Project coordinator) is a Moldavian/Greek photographer and filmmaker.
Hamza Abu Ayash (Designer and multimedia artist; he is the artist behind all of PFI’s visual identity.)
2025
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.
The 2025 PalArctic participants are: Mahmoud Ahmed, Thea Mendez Okkelmo, Saad Othman, Kassia Rebekka Marin and Diana Nasser.
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.
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 first edition of the Palarcic Film program is supported by Arctic Film Norway, Frittord, FHF, Tromsø Municipality & Tvibit – in cooperation with the Palestine Film Institute.
