28 mins, B&W, 16 mm
Established in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has produced numerous films over the years. Aftermath documents UNRWA’s response to the Six Day War in 1967, where Palestinian people were displaced and dispossessed yet again nearly 20 years after the Nakba in 1948. Aftermath reflects on the exodus as seen from Jordan, where refugees fled to. Though directed by Palestinian filmmaker Samir Hissen, it is notable that the film was written and produced by Myrtle Winter, a UN diplomat who worked in the Department of Public Information at UNRWA. Aftermath documents an emergency camp set up by the government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which, with the scale of displaced people, was continually short of tents. A recurring feature of relief agency films is that we do not hear Palestinian voices. While the film holds much telling information of the Naksa (the 1967 displacement of Palestinians following the Six Day War) – in which over 325000 people were expelled from their homes – it must also be understood in its framing of displaced Palestinians merely as the recipients of humanitarian support.
Aftermath is available in English with Arabic subtitles.
Directed & Reported By: Samir Hissen
Produced & Written By: Myrtle Winter
Photographed by: Robi Breedy & Peter Sturken
Sound by: Salim Fakhoury
Music By: Allen Hovey
Film Consultant: Henry Lewes
Produced by: UNRWA - United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
