18 mins, Color, 16 mm
The wind whistles through Jacques Madvo’s 1971 short film, a montage of vibrant drawings by Palestinian children, offering a window into their daily lives, memories, and imagination following their displacement to Lebanon after the Six-Day War in 1967. Lebanon-raised Armenian filmmaker Madvo (1924-2014) was no stranger to the limbo and longing of exile. Palestine, the homeland etched into children’s memories, is rendered in colourful tones, set to the sweet sound of a folk musician singing: “Oh wind, if you will, take me home (…) “Oh how I fear growing up in this exile, while my home never knows me.” Juxtaposed, later in the film, with the harsh sounds of warfare and dark scribbles recording violence lived and remembered, these naïve images reflect children wise beyond their years. The wind is understood to be a messenger to beloved lands left behind. In exile, nature is celebrated – drawings of tents are often surrounded by verdant trees, a blazing sun, and bright birds. While deep knowledge and reverence for nature is woven into the fabric of Palestinian life, we see here that resistance through a love of nature is coded into art, culture, image, and song from the youngest age. Blown by the Wind was officially selected for the Venice Film Festival and won awards at the Leipzig Film Festival, as well as in Czechoslovakia and Tunisia.
Blown by the Wind is available in English with Arabic and French subtitles.
Directed By: Jacques Madvo
Text By: Philip M. Taylor
Produced by: World Film Production
