Long-Lost French Film “Palestine Vaincra” Set to Premiere in New York and London
Third World Newsreel Announces 2K Digital Preservation and Release of Jean-Pierre Olivier De Sardan’s Lost Documentary Film “Palestine Vaincra”
Film Archivist Draye Wilson Found “Palestine Vaincra” in the Third World Newsreel Archives
(New York, NY) Third World Newsreel is proud to announce the 2K digital preservation of the long-lost French documentary Palestine Vaincra (Palestine Will Win) by Jean-Pierre Oliver De Sardan. This short film is considered the first French film made in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Palestine Vaincra will open NYC’s Prismatic Ground Film Festival on April 30th at the Anthology Film Archives and will also be featured at London’s Open City Documentary Festival on May 8th.
The film was rediscovered by audiovisual archivist Draye Wilson at the Third World Newsreel Archives while working on a special project to digitally preserve dozens of films made by the Newsreel Collective from 1968 to 1972. During this process, Wilson came across a film canister labeled Palestine Vaincra.
Wilson says, “This was in late 2023, and the ongoing destruction of Gaza was just about the only thing on our minds at the TWN offices. I had never heard of this film before, and it didn’t seem to be part of TWN’s catalog. I was fortunate to find a single reference to the film online. Palestine Vaincra had been considered a lost film for decades and had not been seen by the film director Jean-Pierre Oliver De Sardan since 1972.”
With some searching, Wilson was able to find film director Jean-Pierre Oliver De Sardan, who was overjoyed at the news that his film had been rediscovered. “The original French version of the film was shot in 1969 in a student dorm, with the invaluable help of a few comrades whose names I’ve unfortunately forgotten,” said Oliver De Sardan, “For the editing room and laboratory, I was helped by the ‘Etats généraux du cinéma,’ a group of militant filmmakers formed in Paris in May 1968. The final war scenes filmed in Vietnam were supplied to me by Joris Ivens and Marcelin Loridan.”
The film was used in the early 1970s by European committees that ed the Palestinian struggle. According to the filmmaker, the film prints gradually disappeared, leaving no trace of the film for decades, until the English version was found in New York.
JT Takagi, Executive Director, said “It was a stunning surprise to find this film, which our generation of Third World Newsreel folks didn’t realize existed. It’s an amazing historical document which we hope will add to the knowledge and understanding needed at this time.”
“Palestine Vaincra” centers on the 1968 Battle of Karameh while also tracing the complex history of five decades of Palestinian resistance for liberation. The film blends historical testimonies by Palestinians, photographs, stock footage, maps, and music. Still relevant, the film has been digitally preserved and is once again available for public screenings from Third World Newsreel.
