15 minutes | United Kingdom | 2023
SYNOPSIS:
The project began with the occupation of Masudiya station by Gush Emunim, an Israeli settler organization, which led to the Sebastia agreement. The Sebastia agreement is a document signed between Gush Emunim and the Israeli government that legitimates the settlement movement by the Israeli government even though it is illegal under international law. It was a turning point that opened up the northern part of the West Bank for Jewish settlement. The station was on the Hejaz railroad, which originally connected the Middle East, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. The Gush Emunim occupation of the station is not only an entry point to further land grabs in the northern West Bank but also a foreshadowing of further control of Palestinian access to their own lands in the area as is the case in Sebastia, an archaeological site and living village northwest of Nablus in the West Bank.
Director Bio:
Yiru Qian is both a visual artist and an architect based in London. She received her MA degree in City Design from the Royal College of Art recently. Her work is based on artistic research methodology and an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, focusing on spatial narratives and memories to find identities.
She was the production designer for Deep Sleep, dir. Chen Yanqi, 2019.
Production design consultant for Day tripper, dir. Chen Yanqi, 2023.
Director, writer, and producer of Sebastia Disagreement, 2023.