The iconic academic and esteemed author of Orientalism and The Question of Palestine, Edward Said was a vital figure in postcolonial studies and a champion of the Palestinian people. The powerful documentary Edward Said: Between Worlds tells of his personal journey from Palestine and Egypt to the United States of America and his decades-long efforts in changing the Western view of the Middle East. Directed by Maiken Baird and made with the generous support of Said’s wife and children, who provided access to an extensive library of family photos and videos, as well as countless archival interviews from various international programs, the film effectively allows Said to relate everything in his own words — passionate, clear-eyed, and easy to grasp.
Highlighting the key moments of his remarkable life, the critical thinker and political activist’s journey began in a middle-class family in Jerusalem, Palestine, but the young Said was displaced and exiled along with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 when the State of Israel was formed. A second displacement occurred when he was sent away from his family in Egypt to go to the States for his education, eventually becoming part of the faculty at Columbia University. His entry into the public sphere began with the Six-Day War, an inciting incident where he witnessed firsthand how the West portrayed and viewed Arab people, and was inspired to properly represent his own people and counter invasive and insidious orientalist thought.
Edward Said: Between Worlds doesn’t shy away from the frustrations of Said’s work. He is shown verbally sparring and getting into shouting matches with biased reporters, interviewers, and members of the public who refused to listen or acknowledge his point of view. It’s quite telling that he states that it is easier for him to speak to an Israeli person than an American Zionist. It also looks at his complex relationship with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Yasser Arafat: he was once part of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) of the PLO until resigning due to his dissatisfaction with the Oslo Accords signed by Arafat.
There is much more of Said’s life packed into the documentary — his stories of extended family members, his shocked reaction to the popular reception of Orientalism, his emotional return to his homeland — but his efforts toward representing Palestine as a publicly recognized intellectual take centre stage, as they should. It is especially useful to see how intertwined the Palestinian struggle is reflected in Said’s life, and it is gratifying to know how well-documented his work was. No matter your previous familiarity with the subject of Palestine, Edward Said: Between Worlds proves itself to be essential viewing for understanding the full picture of what happened (and is still happening now).
