Italian Producer Tackles Kanafani’s Account of Dispossessed Palestinians

Renowned Italian producer Fabrizio Moska, whose works include an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, has announced a film project based on the novel “A'ed Ila Haifa” (Returning to Haifa) by the late Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. 

“The plight of the Palestinians and their historical rights were the drives behind the production of this film,” Moska told the London based Al Hayat newspaper. “Unfortunately, there’s been no clear film on this thorny issue so far. I’m going to look for Palestinian actors to perform in the film, and try to shoot some of the scenes in Haifa.”  

The film will have an international flavor to it, and will be shot in English. Moska purchased the copyright from Annie Kanafani, Ghassan’s widow, to make the film, said the paper. 

The widow set the condition that Palestinians and Israelis who recognized the rights of the Palestinians had to cooperate to complete the film. 

The novel, the subject of a previous but unsuccessful film, explores the life of a Palestinian family after their escape from Palestine in 1948. 

The family leaves behind a child and a house, and returns decades later to find that a Jewish family has occupied the house and raised the child -- Albawaba.com  

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