RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (CelebrityAccess) Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has become executive producer of “Lyd In Exile,” a feature documentary now being edited, chronicling the history and present of the city of Lyd (also known as Lod).
This ancient city that once sat at the intersection of the Cairo-Damascus and Jaffa-Jerusalem roads is located in the middle of Israel.
This project, co-directed by Rami Younis and Sarah Friedland, is described as a “collaborative nature across borders, languages, and time.” To date, the pair have raised over $42,00 by crowd sourcing via Indiegogo.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War most of the city’s Arab inhabitants were expelled in the 1948 Palestinian exodus from Lydda and Ramle. The town was resettled by Jewish immigrants, most of them from Arab countries, alongside 1,056 Arabs who remained.
Sarah Friedland: “Growing up as a Jewish American, I never learned about the history of the founding of the State of Israel from the Palestinian perspective. This film plays an important role in sharing that history and perspective with audiences around the world. I believe that it is impossible to create an equitable future without an understanding of how this history shapes the present.”
Rami Younis: “As a Palestinian activist from Lyd, and the co- director of this film, my vision is to help share the history and on-going struggle of my home town. Lyd is a true symbol of Palestine’s ongoing loss, pain, and resilience, and this film will help share that with the world. This year is the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the founding of the State of Israel, which means it is more important than ever to restore this narrative.”
