Knock LA

Seeds for Liberation, a documentary released earlier this year, reveals a deeply rooted intertwinement of historical revolutionary movements and the fight for a free Palestine. The documentary examines the past six years, starting at the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and showcases the rise of political organizing in the US along with a growing shift within younger generations when it comes to fighting against injustice and standing in their solidarity with all oppressed people. The documentary reveals a side of the Palestine solidarity movement that is often absent from mainstream media, including lived experiences and sentiments from Palestinian Americans and allies. The films places a particular focus on the 2024 anti–genocide encampments that took place at American and European universities and examines the reactions of different Zionist institutions.

The film was created and directed by LA resident Matthew Solomon, with producers Donna Hadjikhani and Alana Hadid in its cohort. Shot on only two separate iPhone 16’s, it premiered for the first time in Los Angeles on January 17, 2026. After concluding its inaugural screening in LA, the film then launched a North American and global impact tour, with screenings happening in Chicago, Seattle, London, Toronto, and many other cities. 

Prior to October 7, 2023, discussions around Palestinian liberation rarely happened in the way they do now, with Palestine being much of a taboo topic at the time. This was due to increased Islamophobia and anti–Arab sentiments following 9/11, with much of Western media and Hollywood representation vilifying Muslims and Arabs, then layering in heightened claims of antisemitism and increased protections of Jewish feelings over Palestinian lives. 

“As a white Jewish male, I saw that my friends had very different lived experiences than I did, so I always had this passion for equality and equity and justice that wasn’t playing out, that wasn’t what we were actually experiencing,” Solomon shared with Knock LA. 

Much of educational discourse in the West, particularly in America and Canada, contains a Zionist slant, with many American youth growing up with the idea that Israel came about as a promised homeland for the Jewish people, and that prior to that, the land was just simply a barren desert. These words set the foundation for the escalated genocide unfolding in Gaza over the last three years. 

Staunch similarities between Chicano and Black revolutionary movements in the United States reveal just how deeply connected Palestine is to revolutionary movements in the West. Throughout the documentary, the audience witnessed the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd and how they sparked a change in how younger generations organize and advocate against injustice. Many young people began identifying and examining similar modes of oppression across different struggles, like when Palestinian activists took to social media in 2020 to advise Black protestors and allies on how to handle tear gas sprayed at them by police. 

Black Lives Matter Grassroots was one of the very first grassroots movements to outwardly support Palestinians after October 7, 2023. 

Solomon shared, “I remember it was a couple days after October 7th, BLM grassroots posted in solidarity with Palestinians and there was an immediate backlash from white Jewish people who were saying things like, ‘We marched with you in 2020, we’re never supporting you again. You sided with terrorists. How dare you? We trusted you.’ You know things like that. And for me, I was like, ‘Didn’t we learn anything from 2020 to at least have conversations or be curious?’” 

“I was raised with all the Zionist propaganda,” Solomon continued. “And I was a model student in Hebrew school. But along the way, I had learned and was seeing that things weren’t what they said they were. I recognized the systems of oppression in Palestine. I also knew, because I had spent time in Atlanta with the Stop Cop City organizers there, that there was a direct connection between the IOF and policing here in the United States.”

The Jewish Virtual Library states that as many as several thousand senior US police officials have traveled to Israel for joint training exercises and programs since the early 1990s and post 9/11. Many of these programs are funded and backed by private, Zionist organizations and think tanks such as the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange. 

When it came to reporting on the genocide, corporate media was infamous for misrepresenting and not accurately representing the atrocities that were happening on the ground to Palestinians, as reports revealed journalists were asked to follow a specific script and replace specific words when it came to coverage on Israel and Palestine. Younger generations witnessed much of the violence by Israeli military forces from their phones, with young Palestinian journalists and activists continuously on the ground documenting Israeli crimes — things the mainstream media refused to acknowledge nor cover properly. 

“Right after the fires, I decided that this is the film that needed to be made, because the media had been lying and misrepresenting Palestine and the Free Palestine movement at that point for a year and a half,” Solomon said in terms of why he felt Seeds for Liberation was important to create. “After the violence at UCLA, MSNBC did a whole 15 minute segment where they were saying the encampments were just ignorant college students who had no lived experience, and because of two years of COVID-19, they didn’t know how to socialize, so they were acting out. So for me, it was like, this needs to be told and the intersectionality needs to be a big part of the film. The film centers Palestinian voices, the history of Palestine, and the history of the oppression and violence against Palestinians.”

Interwoven through Seeds for Liberation are powerful performances from Palestinian-American poet and producer Amanee Izhaq. The poetry was a continuation of feelings, illustrating the daily experiences of Palestinians in Gaza and the diaspora, and the prolonged Zionist occupation that has plagued their lives for decades. 

Although the film has done important work to shine a light on the Palestinian experience and uplifting Palestinian voices, violence by the Israeli state continues regardless. Solomon reflected on a recent visit in the West Bank, where he had the chance to meet with Palestinian Academy Award winner and director, Hamdan Bilal, who directed the Academy Award winning Palestinian film No Other Land which illuminated the continuous, systematic displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank village Msafer Yatta. Solomon expressed how Bilal told him how before October 7, he was “absolutely convinced” that if the world saw the violence that was happening to Palestinians, that people would actually stop and care. Bilal told Solomon that he feels the violence has actually worsened. 

“He’s really lost hope in any sort of possibility that the world is going to stop what’s happening to Palestinians. You know he was on the biggest stage in the world receiving an Academy Award, then returned home where he was beaten almost to death and disappeared into an Israeli jail for a while and the violence hasn’t stopped. If anything, it has escalated,” Solomon said to Knock LA. 

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reports that Palestinians in the West Bank have experienced over 14,742 related settler attacks since October 7, 2023. 

Palestinian film deserves to be an essential part of entertainment and media. It deserves to be a growing part of the fabric of storytelling, showcasing an authentic display of the Palestinian experience. When over three years of genocide continues to anihalate entire bloodlines without any international interference, it is clear that the dehumanization of Palestinians runs deep. 

“I want Palestinian film, I mean it already is, but I want it to be as sought after and viewed in the same way that American cinema is where they get to tell the stories that are important to them, not just documenting the horrors,” Solomon shared.

Leaving the film, one may take away a greater understanding of Palestinian experiences and the prolonged fight for liberation. But the greatest take away from Seeds for Liberation is the inability to separate Palestine from injustices that are happening right outside our backyard. Palestine cannot be understood separately from the atrocities and injustices witnessed in the US and across the world. It is the litmus test for those who organize on behalf of liberation for all oppressed peoples. 

Seeds for Liberation is screening at the San Pedro Film on Saturday November 14 at 7 pm. To purchase tickets, visit this link.