Falastin Film, the Book Fringe and the Allan Armstrong Memorial Book Sale
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Book Falastin Film Festival
Now in its third year, the Falastin Film Festival Scotland brings Palestinian cinema, culture, and art to Scotland, raising awareness of Zionist colonization. They strive to “highlight Palestinian resistance, cultural pride, stories of love, and, in the words of poet Rafeef Ziadah, teachings of life.”
Falastin Film Festival is a collective that formed in 2023 following the onslaught of the Genocide against Gaza. Serving as an act of cultural resistance, the festival seeks to amplify Palestinian stories, share Palestinian art, and foster spaces for collective (un)learning.
The whole thing runs from 27–30 August in Edinburgh, in collaboration with Edinburgh Art Festival, and in Dundee from 25-27 September, in partnership with Art Workers for Palestine, Dundee.
The festival opens on 27 August at the Filmhouse with Activating Archives: Reclaiming Colonial Images followed by a Q&A with director Diana Allan.
“This programme brings together two films that reclaim archival images from the colonial gaze, transforming records of domination into sites of resistance, memory, and political intervention. By revisiting and reworking historical footage, the programme asks how archives can be activated to contest official histories and recover what colonial image-making sought to erase.”
There’s an exhibition at the Palestine Museum in Dundas Street – Metal Memories: Sounds of the Palestinian Streets. The exhibition features the installation of a mobile loudspeaker system often used at Bedouin weddings, looping a sonic mix of rare recordings. The field-recorded tapes share artists’ contributions to Palestinian history and cultural heritage, with a focus on wedding music and dance.
It’s an amazing programme, check it here: Whats On — Falastin Film Festival
Book Fringe
The Edinburgh Book Fringe offers some palliative care to the corporate fair over at the EFI. It’s run by Lighthouse Books, Argonauts Books and the small but perfectly formed Greenhouse Records.
“The bookshop run, alternative August literary festival! Bringing together bookshops citywide to programme of events that highlight each bookshop’s personality.”
See the full programme here: Book Fringe | Linktree
Allan Armstrong Memorial Book Sale
Allan Armstrong was a socialist, a supporter of Scottish independence and a contributor to Bella. [Tribute to Allan Armstrong – Bella Caledonia].
His enormous library of more than 8,000 books is being sold at the start of August on a pay-what-you-can basis to raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). Ideally, all of them have to go.
This message from MAP Edinburgh:
You are invited to a unique fundraising event this summer – one that combines a love of learning with practical solidarity.
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