Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming

This article argues that Palestinian cinema can collectively be understood as adopting a crip aesthetic that gives expression to how, after Jasbir K. Puar (2017), Palestinians are routinely and systematically rendered disabled, or debilitated, by the Israel Occupation Forces. It is through the twin...

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Main Author: William Brown
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Edinburgh University Press 2025-06-01
Series:Film-Philosophy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2025.0313
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author William Brown
author_facet William Brown
author_sort William Brown
collection DOAJ
description This article argues that Palestinian cinema can collectively be understood as adopting a crip aesthetic that gives expression to how, after Jasbir K. Puar (2017), Palestinians are routinely and systematically rendered disabled, or debilitated, by the Israel Occupation Forces. It is through the twin lenses of disability theory and critical race theory that I propose the concept of cinephilistinism, a term that attempts two things: firstly, to express an essayistic opposition to both a cinematic settler-colonial occupation and the support, be that tacit or explicit, lent to that occupation by various purportedly cinephilic institutions; and, secondly, to function as a means for currying what Steven Salaita might term, apropos of Indigenous and Palestinian relations (but here applied to Palestinian solidarity networks more generally), “inter/nationalism” or “solidarity, transnationalism, intersectionality, kinship, or intercommunalism” with Palestine at this moment of intensified Israeli state brutality. What is more, the article will latterly pitch cinephilistinism against a western theological Zionist myth regarding the (Second) Coming, which has Palestine as its focus, such that the battle for Palestinian freedom becomes the battle for the future of humanity, with cinema playing a key role in this struggle.
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spelling doaj-art-2fac1fc290684391b2d17bca2d2762862025-08-20T03:12:05ZengEdinburgh University PressFilm-Philosophy1466-46152025-06-0129245247810.3366/film.2025.0313Cinephilistinism and the Second ComingWilliam Brown0University of British Columbia, CanadaThis article argues that Palestinian cinema can collectively be understood as adopting a crip aesthetic that gives expression to how, after Jasbir K. Puar (2017), Palestinians are routinely and systematically rendered disabled, or debilitated, by the Israel Occupation Forces. It is through the twin lenses of disability theory and critical race theory that I propose the concept of cinephilistinism, a term that attempts two things: firstly, to express an essayistic opposition to both a cinematic settler-colonial occupation and the support, be that tacit or explicit, lent to that occupation by various purportedly cinephilic institutions; and, secondly, to function as a means for currying what Steven Salaita might term, apropos of Indigenous and Palestinian relations (but here applied to Palestinian solidarity networks more generally), “inter/nationalism” or “solidarity, transnationalism, intersectionality, kinship, or intercommunalism” with Palestine at this moment of intensified Israeli state brutality. What is more, the article will latterly pitch cinephilistinism against a western theological Zionist myth regarding the (Second) Coming, which has Palestine as its focus, such that the battle for Palestinian freedom becomes the battle for the future of humanity, with cinema playing a key role in this struggle.https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2025.0313PalestinePalestinian cinemaBlacknessdebilitationdisabilityessay-film
spellingShingle William Brown
Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
Film-Philosophy
Palestine
Palestinian cinema
Blackness
debilitation
disability
essay-film
title Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
title_full Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
title_fullStr Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
title_full_unstemmed Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
title_short Cinephilistinism and the Second Coming
title_sort cinephilistinism and the second coming
topic Palestine
Palestinian cinema
Blackness
debilitation
disability
essay-film
url https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2025.0313
work_keys_str_mv AT williambrown cinephilistinismandthesecondcoming