Paradiso, XXXI, 108

<h2>Synopsis</h2> <p>Aljafari’s new film takes its title from a brief story by Borges, one that considers our collective inability to know God by sight. To play against this concept, Aljafari presents footage of the Israeli military conducting maneuvers in the desert. The material itself is uncanny, since it is never entirely apparent whether we are watching documentary scenes, a staged training film, or decontextualized excerpts from a fictional feature. This aspect, heightened by Aljafari’s precise editing rhythms, suggests that violence is always doubled, a representation of itself. Aljafari peers into the collective unconscious of “the most moral army in the world.” </p> <p>– Michael Sicinski, Viennale</p> <h2>About the Director</h2> <p>Palestinian filmmaker and artist Kamal Aljafari is known for his distinctive approach to cinema. He studied at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and has held teaching positions at The New School in New York and the Deutsche Film-und Fernsehakademie in Berlin. He was awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University and most recently a fellowship at The Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris (2024–2025). As from September 2025, he is a resident at Académie des beaux-arts x Cité internationale des arts in Paris. His installation “The Camera of the Dispossessed” was shown at the 35th Bienal de São Paulo in 2023.</p> <p>Aljafari was also honored at IndieLisboa 2024 with a full retrospective of his work at the Portuguese Cinematheque as well as at the Madrid Spanish Cinematheque in 2025. The feature film “A Fidai Film” (2024) was shown in over hundred festivals and won around 10 international awards. His most recent work, “With Hasan in Gaza” (2025), premiered in the International Competition at Locarno Film Festival, where it was awarded with the Europa Cinemas Label. The film has received main awards at DMZ Docs, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, CINEMED, Festival dei Popoli and is currently shortlisted for the European Film Academy.</p>