A silent demonstration of women in Jerusalem, 1929

Credit: 

Library of Congress [matpc 15738]

Blog Post

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin: “How Do I Construct Historical Narratives through Image and Sound?”

For Jerusalem-born Palestinian filmmaker and film researcher Mahasen Nasser-Eldin, 44, the overarching theme of her work revolves around creating representations of history that resonate today. She is particularly interested in resurrecting silenced histories or characters from Palestine’s past. At least two of her recent films, which are documentary shorts, exemplify this approach.

We sat down with Nasser-Eldin to learn more about her latest film, The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem (2019, 20 min). The film excavates a very compelling photo of a group of women holding a silent demonstration outside the British High Commissioner’s home in Jerusalem in 1929.

Taking the photo as a starting point, Nasser-Eldin searched for footage and archival material to resurrect this compelling Jerusalem history.

Our conversation with Nasser-Eldin was wide-ranging and touched on a variety of other topics as well, all of interest to the Jerusalem Story.

Background

Nasser-Eldin’s educational background in political science and gender studies, as well as her teaching experience in film production and various theoretical courses, have equipped her with the technical expertise on how to use image and sound as ways to make sense of historical events. Nasser-Eldin acquired two master’s degrees: one in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and the other in filmmaking from Goldsmiths College, London.

She also teaches film production and various courses related to film studies and visual cultures at Bethlehem’s Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture, where she heads the film production department.

Jerusalem Roots

Nasser-Eldin’s positional history as a woman who was born and raised in Jerusalem has had a major influence on her work and identity. She notes that being a Palestinian from Jerusalem has always made her feel closest to people of struggles; those who are oppressed and living on the margins.

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe the influence that Jerusalem has had on her identity, and how it has instilled in her a sense of connectedness with people of struggles.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

In her work as a documentary filmmaker, one of the first questions that Nasser-Eldin asks herself is: “Why do I want to go to the past?”

Following this question, she seeks to find ways by which to represent the past through image and sound, all the while finding resonance in the present. “At the end of the day,” she notes, “I don’t think of myself as a historian. I’m a filmmaker who is constructing historical narratives through film.”

Portrait of Jerusalem filmmaker Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

Credit: 

dafilms.com

Filmmaker Mahasen Nasser-Eldin filming on location in Palestine

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin filming on location

Credit: 

Courtesy of Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

“Why do I want to go to the past?”

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe this in her own words.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Restored Pictures: Karimeh Abboud Film

In 2012, Mahasen directed the powerful 22-minute documentary short Restored Pictures. In this film, she explored the life of Karimeh Abboud: the first female professional photographer in Palestine, whose photos have become valuable historical records of the early 1900s.

Portrait of Palestinian photographer Karimeh Abboud with her camera

Karimeh Abboud, “Lady Photographer (as she liked to call herself)

Source: 

Wikipedia

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe her work on Restored Pictures and the sense of gratification found in connecting across generations, doing archival research, and knowing that the history of Palestine predates 1948.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem

After completing her film about the photographer Karimeh Abboud, Nasser-Eldin directed The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem (2019). In this 20-minute film, she tells the story of the silent demonstration that 300 Palestinian women (including leading figure Zulaykha al-Shihabi) staged in Jerusalem on October 26, 1929, in protest at the British High Commissioner’s bias against Arabs in the 1929 riots (see The West Side Story).

“I don’t think of myself as a historian. I’m a filmmaker who is constructing historical narratives through film.”

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem in her own words.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Among the things that intrigued Nasser-Eldin about this project was her own sense of curiosity about the private lives of these women whose photos were placed within the public sphere. For her, it has been particularly interesting to stand witness to the ability of Palestinian women to “overcome factional and religious differences” while the men struggled to create a unified voice with which to lead the community.

Bio Zulaykha al-Shihabi

A fierce feminist Jerusalemite who devoted her life to advocating for women and supporting the national cause

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin share her sense of curiosity about the women, and herfascination with the day-to-day conciliation of the lives of these women in the private spaces while they were out in the public sphere.”

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Poster for film "The Silent Protest" by Mahasen Nasser-Eldin, about the archival photo of women demonstrating in Jerusalem

Poster for Nasser-Eldin’s latest documentary, The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem (2019)

Source: 

Courtesy of Mahasen Nasser-Eldin

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe the local and international reaction to her film.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Seeing the importance of her work in depicting historical events through the audiovisual means, it may be worth looking into ways for such important films to become available at schools and educational platforms.

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe some ideas for how her film could be screened in Jerusalem and around the country to raise awareness of this important history. 

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Challenges and Rewards of Doing Archival Work

Doing archival work can be an invigorating process, and it is highly important for the preservation of the past towards making sense of the present and future. With that said, there are various challenges in doing archival work, particularly for young filmmakers. “The material is minimal,” Nasser-Eldin shares, “let alone [that] it is scattered all over the world.”

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin discuss some of the challenges she has faced in her work. 

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Nevertheless, doing the work is well worth the effort. Nasser-Eldin describes the sense of gratification and feeling of survival that comes after being able to piece “all the little stories and fragments into a narrative that is coherent and that resonates with the audience, and that makes one think about the past and the present.”

Intergenerational Connectivity and Understanding

In the process of film documentation, working collectively certainly makes the process less challenging. Digging for archival material cannot be done by one person. Rather, Nasser-Eldin notes, it would be much more fruitful to tap into networks and work within a team of social scientists, researchers, and historians. She adds that it is thus fruitful to build on the work already accomplished (such as by the proficient writer Dr. Faiha Abdul Hadi) as well as to build a new generation of Palestinian women researchers.

Over and above, creating a coherent narrative after excavating historical stories, as Nasser-Eldin describes it, is “a mode of resistance.

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin talk about the politics of hope that emanates from making sense of the past and present, in order to project into the future.

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Next Project

Nasser-Eldin’s next project will be a feature-length documentary based on how to tell a story when the archive has gone missing. 

Click to hear Nasser-Eldin describe her next project. 

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story

Trailer for The Silent Protest: 1929 Jerusalem

Credit: 

Mahasen Nasser-Eldin