Egyptian star Ahmed Helmy commends LYD's portrayal of Palestinian rights at Arab Film Festival Rotterdam

 

Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland's poignant documentary LYD stole the show at the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam as Egyptian star Ahmed Helmy, amidst the spotlight, gave a nod to their impactful work in making LYD.

 

Coming up on stage during the festival’s closing ceremony, Helmy courageously championed the cause of Palestinian rights, amplifying the impactful message conveyed by Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland's and highlighting the urgent need for awareness and advocacy on the Palestinian struggle.

 

The film is a sci-fi documentary that follows the rise and fall of Lyd — a 5,000-year-old metropolis that was once a bustling Palestinian town until it was conquered when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

 

As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion.

 

Most recently, LYD scooped the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2024 Houston Palestine Film Festival and the esteemed Audience Choice Award for Feature Films at the 2024 San Diego Arab Film Festival.

 

LYD has also captivated audiences at a string of celebrated festivals, including Pune, Middle East Now, Al Ard, Reel Palestine, Palestinian, and Melbourne Science Fiction. It also enjoyed multiple screenings worldwide, including extensive showings across the USA, as well as in Jordan, Italy, and Australia.

 

The movie’s executive producer is Roger Waters, the English musician, singer, songwriter, and composer best known for co-founding the progressive rock band Pink Floyd in 1965, where he served as its bassist. Waters, who often incorporates political themes in his work, has drawn controversy for his views, particularly his support for Palestine in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has likened Israel's treatment of Palestine to that of Nazi Germany and has steadfastly refused to perform in Israel.

 

Rami Younis is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and journalist from Lyd. Younis was also a 2019-20 Harvard Divinity School Fellow and worked as a journalist for the online magazine +972 and as the writer and editor of its Hebrew sister site Local Call — a journalistic initiative he co-founded to question Israeli conventional news sources.

 

Meanwhile, Sarah Ema Friedland is a New York-based documentary filmmaker and media artist. Friedland's works have screened widely in the US and abroad and have been broadcast nationally on PBS.