Tomorrow, Wednesday, 28 February, Cosmos will open its doors for a film experience in solidarity with Palestine. Starting at 9pm, a selection of films curated by Mar Vallejo and Mattia Tosti will be shown from the Tokyo Reels – a set of twenty 16mm works about the struggle for self-determination, collected between the 1970s and 1980s by a Japanese group. Like many other populations around the world, the group felt sensitised and identified with the oppressive post-war situation of the Palestinian people.

These reels, carefully preserved for over three decades, were rediscovered and digitised in 2016 by the Subversive Film collective. The Tokyo Reels, representative of a militant cinema of the utmost tenderness, tell the story of political mobilisation and anti-imperialist solidarity efforts towards Palestine, from and through bridges with the Japanese context of the time.

The films that make up the programme are The Urgent Call (1973) by Ismail Shammout, Palestine: The Path to Tragedy (1970) by Don Catchlove, The Game (1973) by Shirak, Japan to Palestine (1979) by T. Maki, Blown by the Wind (1971) by Jacques Madvo and Kuneitra: Death of a City (1974), directed by Jim Cranmer. After the screenings, there will be an open discussion to deepen understanding of the current circumstances and the ones behind these film productions.

Admission is by donation, which will then go to the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, an organisation on the frontline of the current war, which provides medical assistance to the children of Gaza.