إحكي يا عصفورة (Tell Your Tale, Little Bird)

synopsis

Seven militant women (fedaiyat) of the revolutionary generation tell the story of the Palestinian resistance through accounts of their own lives. Cut from 35 hours of interviews with leaders of the armed struggle, the film presents an image of confident, unapologetic, and proud feminine identity. Together, the memories of these women narrate the dream of a generation, yet unrealized.

Tell Your Tale, Little Bird is a testament to the power of remembrance, positioning memory as an essential element of feminist struggle. The film reminds us that this oral tradition may carry recollection of past resistance, but it is in the very practice of retelling women’s stories that the political act has persisted.

about the director

Arab Loutfi is a filmmaker, writer, and journalist. After working for many years on feature films with Mohammad Khan and Atef Altayeb, she moved into the field of documentary filmmaking.

Her first documentary, The Upper Gate, was an intensely personal account about Sidon, her hometown, in which she wove a history of the city through the stories of its people. Her second film, Jamila’s Mirror, dealt with the memories of Palestinian female guerrilla fighters, currently in their forties, who were involved in military operations during their teen years.

Loutfi’s subsequent works in filmmaking were Seven Nights and a Dawn, Rango, and The Egyptian Wedding. She later created the films Short Visit, Stories from Gaza, Bird of Prudence, Playing with Democracy, Dark Room, Radiant Life, Tell Your Tale, Little Bird, and Over Their Dead Bodies.

In all her works, she attempts to show that by simply taking just two steps out of the world inhabited by the middle class and intellectuals, she can find a life in which people have their own music, cultural tastes, and passions.

She has also sat as a jury member in many film festivals, including the Dubai Film Festival, Al Jazeera Film Festival, Docudays Film Festival, Ismailia Film Festival, Documentarist Film Festival, Alexandria Short Film Festival, and others. She is an active member of the Arab Documentary Filmmakers Union, as well as the Egyptian Film Critics Union.