The Netflix movie Farha has been condemned by Israeli officials as “creating a false narrative” for depicting the murder of a Palestinian family during the 1948 war at the hands of Zionist forces.
Shown at a number of film festivals across the world, the debut movie from Darin Sallam is Jordan’s Oscars entry for 2023 and has recently been released on Netflix. Following the life of a young teenage girl who is locked in a storage room by her father during the horrifying events of Nakba, the contentious scene in question depicts the protagonist witnessing the killing of her whole family through a small slit in the door.
Speaking about the film that is purported to be “inspired by true events,” Israel’s outgoing finance minister, Avigdor Lieberman stated, “It’s crazy that Netflix decided to stream a movie whose whole purpose is to create a false pretence and incite against Israeli soldiers”.
In addition to this statement, Lieberman also added that he would look to withdraw state funding from the Al Saraya theatre, which screened the film in Jaffa.
In response, theatre manager, Mahmoud Abo Arisheh, said: “We responded to incitement with the fact that we [went ahead with] showing the movie…As for the public’s response, Saraya’s supporters once again proved to be many. We are committed to defending our right to exist and to express ourselves … We are committed to freedom of art, all art”.
Take a look at the trailer for the Netflix film below.
