Palestine Underground is a 25 minute documentary released by Boiler Room yesterday that documents the flourishing underground music scene in Occupied Palestinian Territory, the West Bank, one of the most conflicted regions on earth.
Undeterred by political restrictions, building bridges through a shared sound and identity.
The film takes place primarily in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the West Bank region, and opens with a scene of local DJ and producer Oddz sneaking over the wall from Ramallah to play Anna Loulou in Jaffa, one of Israel's few nightclubs, which is described as a place where "everyone is welcome." Well, except Israeli soldiers. One of the few techno DJs in Palestine, Oddz, regularly defies the apartheid wall and checkpoints to play in Palestinian-owned venues in Israel, risking three months imprisonment if caught.. .
From there it cuts between interviews with members of the Jazar Crew, a Palestinian DIY music and art collective that provides a safe-space dance floor for Palestinian youth.With their revolutionary parties around the
region, they have built bridges between the Palestinian underground
scenes in Haifa, Ramallah and beyond, whose first party happened to take place on the the night of Egypt's Arab Spring in 2011, and Sama', Palestine’s first techno DJ. She's credited with introducing Detroit and Berlin techno sounds to Palestine.
Palestine Underground follows a week in the life of these artists and
friends, culminating in June 2018, when Boiler Room hosted its first ever
party in Ramallah.
Live streamed to an international audience of 260+ million, the daytime
outdoor party hosted by Jazar Crew and friends showcased an underground
music scene peacefully reacting against one of the toughest political
feuds in history.The Palestinian artists are blossoming in their creativity despite enforced constraints from the Israeli government, and although their movements are restricted and there is a midnight curfew, enforced by the Palestinian authority, the Palestinian music scene refuses to dwindle, as seen in the film's interviewees, who are brimming with musical passion and freedom of expression. By defying spatial and social restrictions imposed on these artists, they provide hope and inspiration to their audiences.Despite the hardship of living in a war-torn nation, Palestinian youth have found a way to create a sense of normalcy.
Living in what he calls a “stagnant” political situation, the "godfather of underground hip hop scene in Ramallah," Muqata’a sees his music as a "disruption" to the status quo. Which is dire—Israel has for decades pursued a policy of building Jewish settlements in Palestine, including the West Bank and Gaza. Music is therefore a "therapy for the Palestinian identity crisis," a way of peacefully rebelling against a regime that they see as pursuing the systematic erasure their culture.
“We resist in our music, together we are the revolution,” an interviewee says.
‘Palestine Underground’ offers a fresh and different insight into the lives of a minority of young Palestinians and subverts the Western media narrative surrounding Palestine. Produced by Boiler Room's Anais Bremond and directed by BBC and Channel 4 documentary filmmaker Jess Kelly, Palestine Underround " connects the dots between club culture and cinema to stretch the boundaries of what a film experience can be", recording a musical subculture that is little known in the West. There's also a succinct historical explanation early on in the film, so anyone not well-versed in the region's complicated past won't feel lost.
A part of Contemporary Scenes - uncovering underground collectives, artists and subcultures from across the world. https://contemporaryscenes.boilerroom...
Subscribe to Boiler Room's YT channel: http://blrrm.tv/YT
