Alice au pays des colons: Documentary on Palestinian Land Dispossession
Yanis Mhamdi's documentary 'Alice au pays des colons' follows Alice Kisiya, a 30-year-old Palestinian woman from Bethlehem who holds Israeli citizenship, as she returns daily to land once owned by her family. Despite legal documents proving ownership, she witnesses the gradual disappearance of her family home and parents' restaurant due to Israeli settlement expansion. The film also tracks Alaa Nasr and villagers in Madama, who live encircled by encroaching settlements. Rather than focusing on geopolitical debate, the documentary immerses viewers in intimate, daily acts of resistance—staying, returning, protecting memory, refusing erasure. The title references 'Alice in Wonderland,' but here the absurdity is not literary but lived, as physical, legal, and human boundaries shift depending on who crosses them. Mhamdi chooses proximity over didacticism, showing conflict through small gestures: crossing a road, returning to a lost house, waiting, persisting. The film premiered in 2025 and is featured on artsixMic alongside other festival news.
Key facts
- Alice Kisiya is a 30-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem with Israeli citizenship.
- She returns daily to land that belonged to her family but is being lost to Israeli settlements.
- Alaa Nasr and villagers in Madama live encircled by expanding settlements.
- The documentary is directed by Yanis Mhamdi.
- The film focuses on intimate, daily resistance rather than geopolitical debate.
- The title alludes to 'Alice in Wonderland,' contrasting fictional absurdity with real-life dispossession.
- The film premiered in 2025.
- The article was published on artsixMic.
Entities
Artists
- Yanis Mhamdi
- Alice Kisiya
- Alaa Nasr
Institutions
- artsixMic
Locations
- Bethlehem
- Madama
- Cisjordanie
- Palestine
- Israël