Palestinians forage as resistance in this mesmerising interrogation of settler colonial power and narratives of conservation.

In historical Palestine, foraging for wild ‘akkoub and za’atar – traditional foods that Palestinians have gathered from the land for generations – is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Threading together fiction, documentary, and archival footage, Foragers reveals how Israeli legislation in the name of natural conservation constitutes yet another means of separating Palestinians from their land – and of deciding which lives are worthy of protection. Spellbinding and utterly transportative, Foragers examines food as a living terrain for omnipresent settler colonial violence, but also unassailable Palestinian resistance.

Content notes: Depictions of settler colonialism and state oppression.

Access notes: Mainly bright images; mix of explanatory dialogue (in Arabic and Hebrew) and visual storytelling; some mildly abrasive sounds; some flashing images at the start and end of the film.

WATCH, READ, THINK, ACT

Our friends at Lighthouse Books have put together specially-curated reading lists for a selection of films, inviting us to delve deeper into the issues explored in our line-up. Here you’ll find a list of books recommended by Mairi relating to Foragers which delves deeper into food sovereignty, land rights and palestinian history in response to the film.