ARCHIVE (selected work)
(Documentary)
(Commissioned)
(Commissioned)
(Short)
(Commissioned)
(Short)
(Short)
(Commissioned)
(Cinematography)
NEW PROJECTS
(in development)
خريطة
Documentary (70 min)
2026
FILMOGRAPHY
(Shorts)
2023 – Cashflow (Find a Film!) 3 min
2021 – Es muss (It must), 18.5 min
2021 – Dried Out, We Had Forgotten
Our Speech, 8 min
2020 – Unless, 17 min
2018 – Martha, 10 min
Jumana Issa is a Palestinian/Swiss Director, Cinematographer and Screenwriter based in Zurich, Switzerland. In her work, she explores various forms of resistance, colonial legacies, power dynamics and intergenerational traumas. In her practice, she embraces the idea of the archive as a liberating tool and utilises the oral history method.
Jumana studied Film at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and completed her bachelor's degree in 2021 with a focus on screenwriting.
Her graduation film Es muss (It must) (co-directed by Flavio Luca Marano) won the ZHdK Förderpreis (sponsorship award) for the best graduation film of the year. Es muss (It must) celebrated its world premiere at the 74th Locarno Film Festival were they won the "Best Swiss Newcomer Award". Es muss (It must) was shown at other renowned festivals worldwide: including Clermont-Ferrand, Brussel, Dresden, Brest or at Show Me Shorts in New Zealand.
In 2022 Jumana Isabella Issa and Flavio Luca Marano founded their production company Sinn sieht sich Filmproduktion GmbH. She works there as a producer and director. She lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.
SELECTED SCREENINGS:
Festival Screenings
Es muss (It must), 18.5 min (2021)
2023
Svalbard, Arctic Film Festival, NO
2022
Jecheon, 18th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, KR
Beirut International Women Film Festival, LB
Brest, 37e Festival Européen du Film court, FR
Auckland, 17th Show Me Shorts Film Festival, NZ
Brussels, 25th Brussels Short Film Festival, BE
Dresden, 34.International Short Film Festival Dresden, DE
Fribourg, 36th Fribourg International Film Festival, CH
Clermont-Ferrand, 44th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, FR
Solothurn, 57. Solothurner Filmtage, CH
2021
Winterthur, 25. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, CH
Locarno, 74° Locarno Film Festival, CH (World premiere)
Dried Out, We Had Forgotten
Our Speech, 8 min (2021)
Screenings:
Body Archive: Authenticity as a Service at Karl der Grosse Debattierhaus Zürich, 2022
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbDBjR6sr0u/?hl=de&img_index=1
Black Film Festival Zurich, 2021 https://www.blackfilmfestivalzurich.com/courses/dried-out%2C-we-had-forgotten-our-speech
Neues Kino Basel – Cinema Noir, Christoph Merian Stiftung, 2021
https://www.facebook.com/christophmerianstiftung/photos/a.227129160605/10160023929240606/?_rdr
AWARDS:
2021 – Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland),
Best Swiss Newcomer Award
Pardi di domani - Concorso nazionale (Winner)
for Es muss (It must)
2022 – Beirut International Women Film Festival (Lebanon) – Winner Best Short for Es muss
(It must)
2023 – Arctic Film Festival (Norway) – Winner Best Short for Es muss (It must)
RESIDENCIES:
2023 – Locarno Spring Academy (Mentor:
Radu Jude)
TEXTS:
Selected Writings, Reviews & Interviews:
CLERMONT-FERRAND
Dernier verre avec Es Muss (Ainsi soit-il) https://clermont-filmfest.org/tag/jumana-issa/
UBIQUARIAN
Review: It Must (2021)http://ubiquarian.net/2021/08/review-it-must-2021/
LILA STRAUSS MAGAZINE
Making women visible in architecture, art and culture https://www.filiale-office.ch/projekt/magazin-lila-strauss/10