Video Tract for Palestine is a loose collective dedicated to guerilla cinema1 for liberation. Proposed by Lebanese filmmaker, Ghassan Salhab, the group began creating tracts to be disseminated via Instagram. It takes its name from the collection of short films titled Cinétracts —a series of 41 documentary shorts anonymously made by famous French film directors in the 1960s as an expression of solidarity with striking workers and the events unfolding in Paris in May ‘68. Each “tract” contained leftist ideals and circulated exclusively outside the commercial film market. Several renowned filmmakers, such as Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, and Chris Marker, anonymously made contributions, with their specific involvement in each tract remaining undisclosed.
Channeling the revolutionary spirit of the times, Video Tract for Palestine comprises anonymous, well-known, and amateur filmmakers who appropriate archival footage, music, and abstraction to create calls for action and solidarity. Each film is only a couple of minutes long and embodies the frustration, energy, and hopes for a free Palestine by recalling its rich history, culture, and the ongoing violence inflicted upon Palestinians by the settler-occupying state of Israel. Video Tract has employed guerilla methods to showcase these films via social media channels as well as conducting impromptu screenings in public spaces. There are now over 150 tracts from makers in Lebanon, Tunisia, Palestine, France, Italy, and other locations around the globe.
The etymology of “video” derives from the Latin videre (to see). I see Palestine. We see Palestine. They see Palestine.
Un geste pour et vers la Palestine.
A gesture for and in the direction of Palestine.