Mustafa Abu Ali was a screenwriter and producer, born in Jerusalem in 1940. He studied filmmaking at UC Berkeley and the London Film School. He is considered one of the founders of Palestinian cinema and founded the Palestine Film Unit (PFU) in 1967 alongside Sulafa Jadallah and Hani Jawharieh. The organization was part of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and, for them, film was not just an artistic medium but one of resistance and militant action. This program showcases three of his early works, Scenes of the Occupation from Gaza, They Do Not Exist, Palestine in the Eye, all documentary shorts that continue to resonate to this day. 

Included in this program is also the short film The Urgent Call of Palestine from 1972 by the filmmaker and painter Ismail Shammout. It features a song by the same title, written and performed by Zeinab Shaath, who was only a teenager at the time. This song was part of an EP produced by the PLO and is another example of the use of art as a means of resistance by the Palestinian people and specifically by the PLO.