Cinema Dyalna
Contemporary films from across the world, shared in Fairfield.
Cinema Dyalna (“our cinema”) is a new community film club, curated by Alia Ardon, showcasing contemporary films in the languages of Fairfield. Join us for a curated program of contemporary international cinema, with a special focus on films made by and about women.
Discover bold new voices and storytelling in a welcoming atmosphere. Hear from the filmmakers, meet friends and neighbours, share traditional food, music and conversations, and explore the world of cinema.
Check our website and social media for individual film details, languages and ratings.
Tickets are free or by donation.
Our inaugural Cinema Dyalna screening features Jumana Manna's sharp docu-fiction Foragers.
Cinema Dyalna presents: 'Foragers' by Jumana Manna
Thursday 19th November 2026, 6pm - 9pm
يتتبّع فيم «اليد الخضراء» المجريات الدراميّة المتعلّقة بقطف النباتات البريّة في فلسطين/إسرائيل بروح دعابة ونظرة متفحّصة لا يوفرهما سوى واقع غرائبي كذلك الموجود في البريّة في فلسطين. تناور الكاميرا في الفيلم بوجهيها الروائي والوثائقي إلى جانب الأرشيف، راصدةً في بقاع مختلفة مثل هضبة الجولان والجليل والقدس تأثير قوانين حماية الطبيعة من قبل السلطات الإسرائيلية على حياة من يقطف نباتات ولّت سيّئة السمعة في موطنها: الزعتر والعكوب. يمنع القانون الإسرائيلي قطفهما بحجّة حمايتهما من الانقراض، إذ فرضت الدولة غرامات مالية وأصدرت أحكامًا قضائية بحق مئات القاطفين الذين ورثوا هذه العادة من أجدادهم قبل قيام الدولة. تتصاعد المواجهة بين الممارسة الأصلانية التي ترى في الطبيعة امتدادًا لبيتها، وبين السلطة التي تحاجج بواجبها العلمي لحماية البريّة، في سلسلة مطاردات للقاطفين الذين "يهرّبون" الزعتر والعكّوب إلى مطابخ بيوتهم، حتى الإمساك بهم واستجوابهم في أروقة المحاكم. يلتقط «اليد الخضراء» الفرح والمعرفة المتجسدين في تقاليد القطف في جو هو أقرب إلى احتفالية صمود يقف فيها الناس في مواجهة القضاء، والطبيعة في مواجهة الدولة. من خلال إعادة صياغة شروط وقيود الحفاظ على النباتات، يثير الفيلم أسئلة عن سياسات الانقراض وعمّن يملك سلطة تحديد ما هو المنقرض وما/من يستحّق الحياة.
Foragers depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine with wry humor and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee and Jerusalem, it employs fiction, documentary and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. The restrictions prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like ’akkoub and za’atar (thyme), and have resulted in fines and trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants.
For Palestinians, these laws constitute an ecological veil for legislation that further disposses them from their land while the Occupation's representatives insist on their scientific expertise and duty to protect. Following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, from the chases between the foragers and the nature patrol, to courtroom defenses, Foragers captures the joy and knowledge embodied in these traditions alongside their resilience to the prohibitive law. By reframing the terms and constraints of preservation, the film raises questions around the politics of extinction, namely who determines what is made extinct and what gets to live on.
Join us on November 19th at Think+DO Tank to share a meal with community and discover this incisive and personal film.
About Jumana Manna
Jumana Manna is a visual artist and filmmaker. Her work in film and sculpture explores how power is articulated through relationships, often focusing on the body, land, and materiality in relation to colonial inheritances and histories of place. She has participated in multiple film festivals including the Berlinale, Viennale, BAFICI, IFFR, Cairo Cinema Days, Goteborg Film Festival, Ambulante, Cinéma du Réel, and Art of the Real. Her Wild Relatives (2018) won CPH:DOX’s New Visions Award, Sheffield Doc’s Environmental Film Award, DokuFest Kosovo’s Green Dox Award, and Palestine Cinema Days’ Sunbird Award. Jumana was raised in Jerusalem and lives in Berlin.
More Screening - Discover Together - Coming Soon
About Cinema Dyalna
Cinema Dyalna brings contemporary local and international cinema to the heart of Fairfield.
Think+DO Tank is excited to announce Cinema Dyalna (“our cinema”), a new community film club, curated by Alia Ardon, showcasing contemporary films in the languages of Fairfield.
Through films from different countries, cultures and languages, we invite audiences to encounter stories and perspectives that aren't always seen on our screens.
With a special focus on films made by and about women, Cinema Dyalna celebrates the many ways stories are told and shared.
More than a screening, it's an opportunity to come together, discover something different and continue the conversation beyond the film.
Join Us
Come for the film. Stay for the conversation.
Whether you're a regular cinema-goer or simply curious to see something different, you're welcome at Cinema Dyalna.
Meet friends and neighbours, discover filmmakers from around the world and enjoy cinema in a relaxed community setting.
Each screening is different. Visit individual event listings for details about film languages, subtitles, ratings, tickets and any accompanying activities.
About the Curator - Alia Ardon
Alia Ardon is an emerging filmmaker and researcher with a deep interest in the plurality of historical narratives and the socio-political tools that shape them over time.
Among her notable works are her collaboration as a co-director on the film 'Border Farce' (2023) with Safdar Ahmed, commissioned by documenta-fifteen. Her current project ‘Kalitus' investigates the 20th-century industrialisation of gum trees in Morocco, and their journey there from so-called Australia. Born at the Bouanani Archives in Rabat, the film in development was awarded first prize at the USU Creative Awards 2024, and her Honours thesis on the topic was awarded the University Medal at the University of Sydney in 2025.
Most recently, as a member of the Gadigal-based Liberation Cinema collective, she was selected for the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Critics Campus program for emerging filmmakers and critics. She is the founder and curator of the forthcoming Cinema Dyalna cinema program with Think+Do Tank in Fairfield. In her spare time, she curates a weekly film club in her living room.
Her work has been curated, shown, or commissioned by e-flux (New York City), MONAFOMA (Launceston), documenta-fifteen (Kassel), Think Tanger (Tanger), ZargaLab Ramadan Screenings (Marrakech), the Prague Quadrennial (Prague), and the State Library of NSW, Verge Gallery, Firstdraft, PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, UTP, Chau Chak Wing Museum, and the SWANA Film Festival on Gadi Country, among others.