UNRWA : 75 ANS D’UNE HISTOIRE PROVISOIRE
2025, 70’, O.V with English subtitles

Created in 1949 by the United Nations General Assembly, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) was established to meet the essential needs of Palestinian refugees: health, education, humanitarian aid, and social services. Originally conceived as a temporary structure, the agency has nevertheless endured for 75 years, weathering wars and successive crises, and becoming deeply rooted in the social fabric of Palestinian life.
Over the decades, UNRWA has become an indispensable pillar for millions of Palestinian refugees, contributing not only to their subsistence but also to the preservation of their identity. However, the agency faces multiple pressures and criticisms. Accused by some of perpetuating a “permanent” refugee status, it is also described by others as “terrorist”.
Since 7 October, UNRWA has been confronting the greatest crisis in its history, to the point that the prospect of its outright disappearance is looming. What would be the consequences for the Palestinian people if the agency were to cease its activities? This documentary offers a cross-perspective from experts, historians, and insiders to shed light on the history and future of an organisation whose fate remains tied to that of the Palestinian refugees.

Lyana Saleh is a journalist, director, and cultural columnist on France 24. Her first short film, A Ball and a Coloring Box (2004), won the Best Student Film Award at the New York International Independent Film Festival. After settling in France in 2005, she began her journalism career at Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya (the Arabic branch of RFI) before joining France 24 in 2009.
Between 2010 and 2015, Lyana Saleh produced several reports, notably in Libya, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, and Cuba. She also co-produced and directed several documentaries, including Un comédien dans une tragédie syrienne (2019) and Notre mémoire nous appartient (2020) by Syrian director Rami Farah — the latter winning the Human Rights Dox Award at Dokufest 2021 and the Film Prize Leipziger Ring at DOK Leipzig 2021.
She also co-directed Palestine: état second with James André, as well as Rebelle de Raqqa with Claire Billet for France 24. This last documentary won the Grand Prix at FIGRA in 2015 as well as the Audience Award at the PriMed festival in Marseille.

Nicolas Wadimoff (b. 1964, Geneva) is a film director and producer. After studying cinema in Montreal, he debuted with Le Bol (1991, Locarno) and directed the award-winning documentary Les Gants d’Or d’Akka (1992). His fiction feature Clandestins (1997) won multiple international awards, and he has participated in festivals including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto. Founder of Akka Films (2003), his notable works include Aisheen in Gaza (2010, Berlinale), Opération Libertad (2012, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes), Spartiates (2015, Prix de Soleure), Jean Ziegler, l’optimisme de la volonté (2016, Locarno), and L’Apollon de Gaza (2018, Critics’ Week, Locarno). From 2019 to 2023, he headed HEAD–Geneva’s Film Department. He is now preparing a new fiction feature in Marseille while continuing to produce personal projects.

Tamara Alrifai is the UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications. An outreach and advocacy expert in the fields of humanitarian action and human rights, she has held positions in conflict and post-conflict contexts, as well as in diplomatic capitals, including Geneva and New York, with the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch. Ms. Alrifai is a published media contributor and regularly appears in regional and international media to comment on humanitarian and human rights issues.

Lorenzo Marsili is an activist philosopher and writer. The founder of several social enterprises including transnational NGO European Alternatives and cultural institution Fondazione Studio Rizoma, his research and political work focus on defining and promoting futures beyond the nation-state. A regular public speaker and international media commentator, he was the founding editor of the independent journal Naked Punch Review in London and Beijing. He has degrees in philosophy and sinology from the University of London, and his books include Il Terzo Spazio (Laterza, 2017), Citizens of Nowhere (Zed Books, 2018), La tua patria è il mondo intero (Laterza, 2019), and Planetary Politics (Polity Press, 2020). Occasionally, he writes plays for the theatre. He lives between Venice, Berlin, and Palermo.

Azzurra Meringolo is a journalist in the foreign desk of Giornale Radio Rai, where she focuses primarily on Middle Eastern issues. She has served as editor-in-chief of AffarInternazionali. Holding a PhD in International Relations, she is also a lecturer in Arabic Media at Roma Tre University. In the past, she has collaborated with national and international publications and directed the magazine Arab Media Report. She has hosted Radio 3 Mondo (Rai3). In 2012, she won the Ivan Bonfanti Journalism Award, and her doctoral thesis on Egyptian anti-Americanism was awarded the Maria Grazia Cutuli Prize. In 2013, she received the Indro Montanelli Writing Award for I ragazzi di piazza Tahrir, and in 2014 the Franco Cuomo International Award in the essay category. She is the founder and a member of the scientific committee of WIIS (Women in International Security) Italy and serves on the German Marshall Fund Leadership Council.