Palestine Cinema Days Festival is an annual event organized by Film Lab: Palestine in October of each year. It aims to put Palestine on the map of the global Cinema industry and the film scene, in addition to promoting local and international films across several places in different cities within Palestine. Film Lab: Palestine launched the first edition of Palestine Cinema Days in 2014 (which was called Cinema Days) and it has become an annual tradition ever since.
The festival offers a unique program that includes world-famous film screenings for adults and children, as well as panel discussions, professional film workshops, specialized programs for children, and networking opportunities. In 2016, FilmLab: Palestine created the Sunbird Contest, a competition for short films, documentary feature films, and short film projects that have a strong reference to Palestine. Each year, the Sunbird Prize competition screens short fiction and documentary feature films.
The Films must be directed by Palestinian directors or producers or refer to Palestine objectively. One year later, the Sunbird Production Award was added to fill the gap and support the production, post-production and distribution process in Palestine in cooperation with MAD and Aarhus. Applications are selected each year by an international jury of three members in the respective categories.
The name and model of the award is the Sunbird known in Palestine. Despite its size of only 8-12 cm, its will to survive is unbreakable. The award represents this inspiring story, as it presents an ambitious cinematic scene designed by artist Khaled Jarrar.
Creating a platform for professional networking and promoting the Palestinian film industry was the goal of establishing the Palestinian Film Meetings (PFM) in 2017. It turned into the production platform for the festival, which takes place in parallel with Palestine Cinema Days. Over the years, Palestine Cinema Days has succeeded in becoming a focal point of the international film scene, increasing interest in collaborating with Palestinian filmmakers and supporting the development of the local film industry; being the only international film festival that takes place in Palestine and is organized by a local institution.
The Palestine Film Days Festival has grown to be a milestone in the Palestinian cinema culture. The festival's audience is the largest and most diverse to attend and participate in a cultural event in the country. Over the years, the festival became a platform for local and international productions, and Palestine Cinema Days became the festival that put Palestine on the map of world cinema culture.