As part of NW’s multi-year focus on Palestine and within the framework of Lokaal Solidair, we present Sven Augustijnen’s latest film.

Meeting Moment with Compagnie Cordiale

Unknown is unloved. This applies to everything in life, but especially to people and cultures. That is why Compagnie Cordial invites you to a special and playful speed date before the film.

Under the motto “Have a drink with someone you don’t know at all and discover how much you have in common”, you will have the opportunity to talk to other film-goers and people who are new to Belgium. Talk about life, culture, small worries and big dreams. Or just about your favourite film. Because behind every first, sometimes awkward encounter, there is a fascinating conversation waiting to happen. You’re welcome from 19:00 in the NW café.

Conversation

After the screening, the filmmaker Sven Augustijnen will join Artistic Director Laura Herman and the audience for a discussion.

About the film

In the wake of Palestinian memory, National Pride: From Jericho to Gaza follows Hassan Al Balawi, a diplomat based in Brussels, returning to his homeland on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat—a tutelary figure of the liberation struggle and leader of the PLO. Filmed in 2019, the film traces his journey from Jericho to the Gaza border, through an occupied West Bank where every checkpoint, every landscape, bears the imprint of broken promises.
This intimate journey sketches the portrait of a struggle in suspense: between the broken momentum of the peace process born from the Oslo Accords and the shockwave of the tragedies of October 7, 2023. In this intertwining of memory and present, a narrative of disillusionment and of persistence emerges, where the unfinished quest for justice and freedom continues to haunt bodies, voices, and territories.

National Pride: From Jericho to Gaza received a Special Mention in the Burning Lights Competition at Visions du Réel (2025).

Sven Augustijnen (°1970) lives and works in Brussels. His films, publications and installations on political, historical and social themes constantly challenge the genre of the documentary. He had solo-shows at Wiels (Brussels), de Appel (Amsterdam), Centre pour l’Image contemporain (Montréal). Sven Augustijnen is represented by Jan Mot, Brussels and is a founding member of Auguste Orts, Brussels.

With thanks to Auguste Orts, who donates the screening fee in full to a solidarity initiative within Lokaal Solidair, in this case The Sameer Project.