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About the Film
1995; 48 Minutes, English and Arabic with English Subtitles.
"Gives a thorough insight into the historical events surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, filmed through the eyes of a former British General reliving the battles and considering the role of the British in the conflict." —Cantilevers
In late 1947, Palestine is a country in the throes of war between Palestine's Arabs and Jews. The British government is officially responsible for maintaining law and order but it quickly loses control and decides to abandon the country on May 15th 1948, leaving behind a war which was to lead to the tragic dispossession of over three quarter million Palestinian Arabs of their homes and the creation of the state of Israel. One man, Major Derek Cooper, witnessed those final days of the Mandate as an officer in the British army responsible for the protection of the Arab city of Jaffa. His experiences there marked him so deeply that he continued to work on behalf of Palestine's refugees for most of his life. The film tells the story of his return to Palestine/Israel in the summer of 1995.
Going Home tells the story of Cooper's return to Israel in the summer of 1995. In an effort to capture the past, Cooper and his wife revisit famous sites and talk to Palestinians and Israelis about the events of 1948. This film is a compelling look back at the beginning of a conflict that would last for generations to come.
Director’s Note
In September 1993, talks between Israel and the PLO seemed to herald a new era of peace in the Middle East. But for many Palestinians, their individual and collective memories of almost five decades of continuous war and displacement were hard to put aside: forgetting was seen as part of defeat, something forced upon them by the balance of power in which Israel was the victor. On the other hand, the lack of improvement in the living conditions of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in the refugee camps in Lebanon and elsewhere created a feeling that their only hope - if not their only remaining weapon - was to cling on to those memories. Going Home is an attempt to pose the question of memory - and thus of historical injustice - as a central issue in any process which is to lead to a lasting and just peace in the region".
Omar Al-Qattan
About the Filmmaker
Omar Al-Qattan was born in Beirut and moved to the UK at the outbreak of the
Lebanese Civil War. Following a degree in English literature from Oxford University,
he studied film directing at the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du
Spectacles (INSAS) in Brussels.
His first film, Dreams & Silence, an early exploration of political Islam in the context
of the first Gulf War, won the prestigious 1991 Joris Ivens Award at the International
Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). In 1994, he executive produced Michel
Khleifi’s Tale of the Three Jewels, the first film to be shot entirely in the Occupied
Gaza Strip. The film premiered at Cannes and won a host of international awards.
His second film, Going Home (1996) explored the central importance of historical
injustice to the question of Palestine. He also co-directed the PBS documentary
Muhammad Legacy of a Prophet and produced or co-produced several other films,
including Khleifi’s Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land (1996), Route 181 (with Eyal
Sivan) (2003) and Zindeeq (2009 Muhr Award for Best Arab Feature, Dubai Film
Festival).
A founding member of the A. M. Qattan Foundation, he launched its cultural track,
including the Palestinian Audio-visual Programme. The Foundation also runs a
children’s library and cultural centre in Gaza City and a programme for educational
research and development focused on Palestinian school teachers. In 2008, also as
part of the Foundation, he established The Mosaic Rooms in London, a cultural
space to showcase and celebrate the cultures of the Arab World. He was then Chair
of the 2013 and 2015 Shubbak Festival of Contemporary Arab Culture in London
and of the Palestinian Museum during its inaugural years, from 2012 to 2017. In
2020, he was elected to chair the Museum for a new three-year term.
In addition, Al-Qattan is chair of Al-Hani Construction and Trading Company in
Kuwait, a leader in the construction of large-scale public projects such as the Sheikh
Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre in Kuwait City and Kuwait National Library.
He has contributed to a number of English and Arabic language publications, such
as the New Statesman, Vertigo, OpenDemocracy, CounterPunch, Al Hayat and Al
Quds al Arabi, as well as co-editing bi-lingual publications including New Horizons in
Palestinian Art and Hope & the Aesthetic Moment, both catalogues of work by young
Palestinian artists. He has also written chapters in two anthologies: Dreams of a
Nation (on Palestinian cinema) and Nakba: Palestine, 1948 and the Claims of
Memory, ed. By Lila Abu Lughod and Ahmad Saadi.