We sat down with Director Annemarie Jacir at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 50) to discuss her breathtaking film Palestine 36. The film had it’s worldwide premiere at TIFF in September, which was met with an over 10 minute standing ovation, and is Palestine’s Oscar Entry this year. It explores the events that lead up to the 1936 Arab revolt against British control in Palestine. In our interview, Jacir delves into the historic figures that some characters were based on, and the archival footage woven into the narrative.

To achieve historical authenticity, Annemarie Jacir based several key characters in “Palestine 36” on real historical figures and accounts. The film’s use of archival footage was key to creating the historical scope of “Palestine 36”. The archives were integral to the original script and vital for her research on everything from how people dressed to how they looked.

Palestinian Characters Based on Real Figures

Suhaila (Temple of Geek): You did mention that Khuloud’s character in particular was based on a real character. Were all of the characters inspired?

Annemarie Jacir (Director): There’s a few characters that are based on real characters. So Khuloud is based on two characters. She mentioned the socialite. There was a woman in Jerusalem who was really a socialite, and very close to the British. That was also a difference, the British army and the British diplomats. There’s a difference. Somebody like Thomas really believes in what he’s doing. People that believe that the man they believed they were doing better. And Thomas changes and sees that it’s a failed project, like many projects like that. Khuloud, just to go back to her, there’s a secondary character who is a woman who is a journalist in Haifa. She’s like a mix of two characters.

Jacir: Amir also… The whole thing with Amir and the Zionist Commission and becoming a mayor was inspired by something also real. So yeah, there’s a lot of inspiration from actual characters.

Thomas is based on a real character who wrote a memoir about his time in Palestine. He was a secretary for the High Commissioner. He came there with good intentions, as they say. And he slowly saw what was happening. He ended up leaving. He actually became a Marxist. He became completely in a different direction.

Wingate and the Manifestation of Zionism

Jacir: Wingate is like the godfather of the Israeli army. He was not Jewish. He was really an evangelical Christian. He believed he was on some kind of holy mission. He kind of looks a little bit [eccentric]. His long hair, he doesn’t look straight up military. The actual Wingate, he went off and he was doing his own thing. They ended up disassociating himself, the British, because he kind of went crazy.

Suhaila: It seemed like he was taking things kind of extreme in the film itself. And beautifully portrayed as well [by Robert Aramayo]. But a character that you hate.

Jacir: And the real Wingate was even crazier than that. He was naked with his troops all the time, he wore garlic around his neck, he wore a stopwatch. He was a very eccentric person. [It was] too eccentric for the film actually. Because people get completely distracted.

Suhaila: It was really interesting to see his beliefs manifesting. Very much influencing his world view. And even when faced with certain truths, he’s just completely rejecting them. There’s a scene where he says, “What do they even know of Christ?” And clearly there’s priests and there’s Christians here amongst Palestinians. And he’s completely disregarding them in order to continue down his agenda and the Zionist movement. I love that you included a character that was a Zionist who wasn’t Jewish. Because Zionism, it’s a political movement.

Colorizing the Past for a Living Film

Suhaila: Can you talk about the archives as well? Did the archives influence the story or the other way around once you had the story? That’s a really interesting question.

Jacir: The archives were part of the script, the original script. The script changed a lot afterwards because of everything that happened and shutting down and starting production. There was also a lightness to the story that I took out because I’m no longer in that mood. And I responded to it. I always had archives in the film. I don’t know at what point, because they were part of the research. But I was looking at things. I was obsessively looking at things. How did we dress? How did we look? They were really critical as we later when production became so impossible.

Archives became more important because we don’t have the kind of budget to make a film where we can rebuild Jerusalem and rebuild all that world. The archives make the scope bigger. This was the world that’s gone. I wanted to play with that and give texture of life in Jerusalem, life in the village. And then we digitized and colorized the archives. Because for me, it’s part of the film being alive and feeling current. I remember when I saw the colorized archives for the first time, I was completely struck by the color of people’s skin, their teeth, even having some yellow. Suddenly, it became really alive. And that’s something I was very focused on. I didn’t want to be something like a back in time. I wanted it to be integrated in the film.

Suhaila: I love that you changed the aspect ratio to indicate the change between the archives and the actual footage. The way that they looked just was so seamless.

Where to Watch “Palestine 36”

Palestine 36 is out in theaters around the UK and Ireland, with special screenings happening around the US. You can request a screening through the North American distributor “Watermelon Productions” and get updates on showtimes and releases on the “Palestine 36” Instagram page.

Read more of our interviews and coverage of the films that premiered at TIFF50.