Gestures of Memory: R21 AKA Restoring Solidarity

Upon receiving a mystery package containing 16mm film, the filmmaker scanned it to reveal twenty lost films collected by the Japanese activists who were part of the country’s solidarity movement with Palestine. Excerpts of these archival films captured by filmmakers in various countries are collaged to form R21 AKA Restoring Solidarity, an experimental documentary demonstrating resistance across geographies and through a collective voice.

The act of safeguarding these films plus Yaqubi’s decision to disseminate them, shows the necessity of the preservation and restoration of film as contributing to memory-making in response to colonial systems.

Japanese, Arabic and English with English Subtitles