As a signpost in place and a source point of time, Gaza is a turning point globally, and it is also a marker of the long-felt conditions of virtuality that have in part defined Palestinian experience since the 1948 Al Nakba[the catastrophe] when the mass displacement, dispossession, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by the Israeli state began.
With the abundance of dystopian and apocalyptic images saturating viewers’ senses for two years by the time we gather in October, Virtual Remains opens up the question: how do we as receivers of this image stream inhabit imaginaries of Gaza and of Palestine, and how do they, as locus and ethos, inhabit us? Starting here, the 2025 festival is a reflection on virtuality in all its dimensions: as representation, imagination, index, projection, embodiment, and the truth claims attached to (moving) images.
This year’s festival will once again unfold over four days, beginning with an opening night premiere on Thursday, 9 October and continuing with day and evening activities throughout the weekend. Alongside our rich schedule of screenings featuring over twenty-five films by Palestinian directors with special introductions and post-screening discussions, the 2025 programme also comprises a range of parallel events, including a series of dialogue sessions and hands-on workshops, as well as our always popular olive oil tasting and a very special interactive keynote.
To realise the programme, we are pleased to be continuing our collaborations with the arthouse theaters Kriterion, Lab111, Studio/K, and Ventilator Cinema, and to be embarking on new partnerships with the arts organisations De Appel and Framer Framed, and the collective dance studio Jakoozi. The 2025 edition is generously supported by Fonds21, with sponsorship from Tzkrti.
The full programme will be announced on 8 September, stay tuned!
