Shaima Al Tamimi’s ‘The Myth of Mahmoud’ is a poignant exploration of grief and displacement among Palestinians in the diaspora.

The Palestine Film Institute (PFI) will present four documentaries in progress in collaboration with Cannes Docs at the upcoming Marché du Film de Cannes (MdF) event.

Among the films the PFI will present include ‘The Myth of Mahmoud,’ which was produced by Shaima Al Tamimi – a senior digital marketing specialist at the Doha Film Institute.

Al Tamimi’s documentary follows the story of Mayar Jamal Hamdan, who co-directed the film alongside Al Tamimi, and her maternal family, whose residency in Qatar spans six decades.

Hamdan, a visual artist and writer, and her family are of Palestinian descent.

Al Tamimi’s film explores the theme of grief and unlawful displacement within the Palestinian diaspora through Hamdan’s mother, Amal, who is grappling with the loss of her residency sponsor Mahmoud Said – Hamdan’s grandfather.

He died after attempting to build a home.

Adding to the challenges, Amal’s fate is jeopardised after receiving an ‘end of service’ letter from her workplace – inducing an even more uncertain future.

While Hamdan relocates to America, Amal is forced to decide where the next place she will call ‘home’ is and who will look after her elderly mother and emotionally unstable sister.

Taking to Instagram, Al Tamimi said that she was “excited” for Hamdan’s story to be shared at the MdF.

The PFI is a voluntary, non-profit organisation and was established in 2019, “born from a shared desire among active film professionals who identify as Palestinians, to create an inclusive body with the mission to develop, promote and empower the community and industry of film in Palestine and for Palestinians worldwide and preserve its cinema.”

While within MdF, Cannes Docs stands as a platform to connect documentary filmmakers and creatives within the film industry to meet specialised sales agents and top international festival programmers.

The MdF event will run from May 14 to 22 this year, where the PFI will be showcasing its curated films from May 17 to 20.

“The months since October 2023 have underlined the great struggle we face as Palestinians to merely exist. Our arts and culture – and in particular, our cinema – have long played a fundamental role in protecting our narrative and reflecting the Palestinian struggle over the past 76 years,” PFI organisers said.