Part of Media City Film Festival 2024

Jocelyne Saab, Lebanon/France, 16mm > digital, 16 min, 1982

After living clandestinely in Beirut to escape Israeli forces, Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), left Lebanon with members of the group aboard the Greek vessel Atlantis for a new exile in Greece and then Tunis. The evacuation was overseen by United Nations Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, with the ship chartered by the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marines, flying both Greek and UN flags, a move intended to help assure the safety of the evacuation, a caution against Israeli aggression. Arafat talks about his destiny and the future of Palestine. Le Bateau de l’exil is an extraordinary historical document.The filmmaker Jocelyne Saab was the only person with a camera admitted on the boat to document this journey.

Streaming Details: This film is available to stream globally.

Program Partners: This film is co-presented with Association Jocelyne Saab and Mothlight Microcinema.