RAMALLAH, Aug. 18, 2026 (WAFA) — The Palestinian documentary film Revolutionaries Never Die has won the Ciné+OCS Special Jury Prize in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition at the 79th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Produced by Palestinian producer Sami Saeed and directed by Mohanad Yaqubi, the film received the award following its world premiere at the festival, where it earned an official selection and attracted critical and media attention, providing a strong boost to its international launch and distribution.

The prize includes a CHF 25,000 promotional campaign on Ciné+OCS channels in conjunction with the film’s theatrical release in France, giving it broader opportunities to reach European audiences.

Produced by Idioms Film with the participation of international partners and distributed by Square Eyes, the film revisits the legacy of the late Lebanese filmmaker and journalist Jocelyne Saab and explores the region’s memory and political history.

It draws on rare archival material from the 1970s and 1980s to revisit chapters of the Palestinian Revolution, the Lebanese Civil War, and global solidarity movements, questioning the impact of revolutionary ideas and images and their ability to withstand oblivion.

The award marks another achievement for contemporary Palestinian cinema and underscores its presence on the international stage through works that engage with archives and memory to rethink Palestinian and Arab history and the relationship between art and liberation movements.

K.F.