Past Film/Video | Documentaries

The Kingdom of Women: Ein el Hilweh

(Dahna Abourahme, 2010, Lebanon/Palestine)

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A line drawing of multiple female figures in a row holding vessel up on their heads.

Dahna Abourahme mixes animation with extensive interviews to capture the resilience of women in Southern Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp after a 1982 Israeli bombardment.

Established in 1948, Ein al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the camp was destroyed, and its men were imprisoned. The period between 1982–84 was an integral chapter in the history of Palestinian women in Lebanon. In a stunning display of resilience, these women rebuilt the camp with their own hands, protecting and providing for their families while their partners were held captive.

Dahna Abourahme’s documentary The Kingdom of Women returns to southern Lebanon to interview seven of these women. Using animation and scenes from their daily lives, the film weaves between the past and present, historicizing their efforts and honoring these women’s contributions to the survival of the Palestinian community in exile. In Arabic with English subtitles. (54 mins., video)

A line drawing of multiple female figures in a row holding vessel up on their heads.

Image courtesy of the filmmaker

A collage of multiple scan of handwritten letters.

Image courtesy of the filmmaker

A line drawing of multiple female figures with their both hands reaching towards the screen.

Image courtesy of the filmmaker

Organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Ohio State History of Art graduate student Dareen Hussein and Film/Video Curatorial Assistant Layla Muchnik-Benali.

This series was made possible with support from the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme Fellowship.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health
Kaufman Development

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
L Brands Foundation
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
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Nationwide Foundation
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Axium Plastics
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Past Film/Video

The Kingdom of Women: Ein el Hilweh