Phones fill the air, blurred images of other people’s heads fill their zoomed frames as crowds fight to catch a glimpse of the celebrities walking through city streets. Which one, they aren’t sure! Questions of “who is it?” flood the crowd as the gleaming black cars with their tinted windows drive down King Street to get to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Unaware of which actor or actress is exiting the vehicle, their cameras remain up, anxious to capture a small glimpse of them, even if it’s just on their phones.
My brother and I, too, strain our necks when word gets out that one of the cars passing is actress Angelina Jolie. Her new film, Couture, was premiering on this day. The crowd grew larger and larger, and visibility became impossible. We shrugged our shoulders and moved on through the festival. Stalls of various kinds lined the street from food trucks to little knick-knacks, and smaller film organizations handing out their pamphlets. Everything felt so exciting, alive and vibrant.
Robert Aramayo, known for his role as Elrond in the recent LOTR: Rings of Power series, stood outside the Criterion Mobile Closet parked in front of the Lightbox on King St W. Aramayo starred in two important films that were featured at TIFF this year: I Swear and Palestine 36, a historical drama about Palestine in the 1930s.
TIFF premiered several Palestinian films that showcased alongside the voices of Palestinian storytellers, directors and actors. In addition to this, many celebrities wore ceasefire pins and keffiyeh, including the lead actor of Palestine 36, Karim Daoud Anaya. The actor held a plastic bag containing a camera and a keffiyeh, all soaked in fake blood, to make a powerful statement on the red carpet.
Later, we heard that Russell Crowe, another one of my favourite actors whom my brother and I grew up watching, was going to attend the red carpet premiere of his film, Nuremberg. We rushed to David Picoult Square, joining a couple of other attendees at the gate. Thirty minutes later, they arrived. Actors Richard E. Grant, Michael Shannon, and finally, Russel Crowe paid not much attention to the hollers coming from the gate, urging them to look over and give a wave.
We revisited the festival at night, walked through the street once more, grabbed some churros, and then we started to hear a different type of chant than the calling of celebrity names. These chants were filled with vigour and passion— “Free Palestine.” Their flag waved in the distance.
We left the gates of the festival and joined the crowd. Drums bellowed loudly, people clapped, and signs were raised to the sky.
The leader of the chants said they were here for the support of the Palestinian film The Voice of Hind Rajab, a 22-minute short documentary and retelling of the killing of 4-year-old Hind Rajab, who was targeted by IOF soldiers on January 29 of last year. She was shot at over 300 times as she waited for help after many of her family members were gunned down in their car.
It served as a reminder to us that this is what truly matters in the world. We stand up for celebrities, calling for their attention to us, yet we ignore the pleas of those who are suffering. We turn a blind eye to their videos, their films that urge us to open our hearts and feel their pain. We place celebrities on high pedestals, praising them for their hard work, but ignore the perseverance and strength of those who genuinely deserve it more than ever. We wait in lines for hours to see a celebrity for 30 seconds, while Palestinians are in line for hours waiting for a single meal. We use film as a distraction to pull us out of the real world. But when does distraction become ignorance?
This all rushed through me as I stood amongst the crowd. As I saw the faces of children on signs; children who have been targeted, attacked, and massacred while the world sits idly by.
The excitement we had felt for those actors seemed silly and, quite frankly, unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It was almost like whiplash, being brought back to reality as soon as we saw the red, black, green and white flag.
The media didn’t cover this protest at all. I found only some articles about the Palestinian protest that happened days before the opening of TIFF, and it was labelled as a “disruption,” a negative demonstration. No media outlets covered the protest my brother and I were at that night. It came to me that perhaps because this one was showing support, and in their eyes, “not disrupting,” it made it less newsworthy in the media.
I sifted through the Toronto Star, where the front page featured star-studded celebrities walking the red carpet. I turned to the next section to find photos of Palestine, rubble, death, destruction, and ignored pain, buried in the back of a newspaper as if it were an afterthought. It was as if it was hidden behind the paparazzi flashes and designer dresses, robbed of getting the attention it deserved.
The inclusion of these films at TIFF this year is a significant step forward in amplifying, empowering, and including Palestinian voices and storytelling. Art is a form of resistance, and this year showed that. The importance of showcasing the history, their struggle and perseverance lets the world know that Palestine is still here, calling for peace and freedom. We need to open our eyes.