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Free virtual world premiere screening of the documentary feature film "Land of Canaan (2026)," by Maggie Lemere.

  • Palestine Museum US 1764 Litchfield Turnpike Woodbridge United States (map)

Please click here to register to view the film.

Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 18:00 Europe; 17:00 UK; 19:00 Palestine, running time, 86 minutes, documentary, 2026, English, and Arabic with English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by discussion with the film director Maggie Lemere and Nasser Abufarha, founder and director of Canaan Palestine.

Synopsis
Land of Canaan is a feature documentary and cinematic environmental meditation that immerses viewers in the lives of and relationships between Palestinian farmers and their thousands-of-years-old olive trees in the West Bank, Palestine. At its center is Dr. Nasser Abufarha, a Palestinian-American entrepreneur who returns to the West Bank and, finding the olive heritage in crisis, leads a movement to preserve an ecosystem and generations of ecological knowledge while helping build one of Palestine’s most influential fair-trade networks. In a time when land, culture, and livelihood face erasure, Land of Canaan bears witness to what is at stake — and why it must be protected.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at Ely Film Festival

BEST DOCUMENTARY at Arizona International Film Festival

BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CURRENT AFFAIRS at Rai Trento Award

Dr. Nasser Abufarha is the founder of Palestine Fair Trade Association and Canaan Palestine, connecting over 2,000 small-scale Palestinian farming families to global markets through fair trade and organic olive oil. Raised among the olive groves of Jenin, he earned a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, focusing on culture, land, and resistance. Through his work, he has helped bring Palestinian olive oil to international recognition while supporting rural livelihoods, women's cooperatives, and educational initiatives. His efforts center on strengthening communities, sustaining traditional agricultural practices, and building economic resilience rooted in cultural heritage. He continues to advocate for fair trade and environmental stewardship on an international stage. He is also the author of "The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance" by Duke University Press and “The Alternative Palestinian Agenda: A Proposal for Bi-National Solution in Palestine.”

Maggie Lemere is a filmmaker, oral historian, and National Geographic Explorer whose work explores relationships between people and the environment. She has worked globally as a researcher, trainer, and storytelling strategist, and edited Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma's Military Regime (2011), later translated into Burmese. She is currently directing projects including Vs. Goliath, a series following frontline communities resisting fossil fuel industries and envisioning more just futures. Maggie co-founded Rhiza Collective, is a member of Tikkun Olam Productions, and works as an oral historian with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

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May 2

Free virtual screening of the documentary film "Execution and Mass Graves in Tantura," produced by Forensic Architecture.