Roger Waters to executive produce documentary about Palestine's legendary Freedom Theatre

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has been announced as executive producer on director Rishi Pelham’s feature documentary Freedom Theatre.

It follows artist Ahmed Tobasi in an “immersive and sensory character study” as he fights to keep Palestine’s legendary theatre open amidst imminent destruction.

“I didn’t intentionally set out to make this film,” Pelham said. “I kept returning to Jenin, to the theater, to the camp, and over time the story insisted on being told.

“What drew me in was the tension between two worlds,” he added. “The black-box rehearsal room, sealed and controllable, and the camp outside, alive, volatile, and impossible to contain. Slowly, these spaces began to bleed into one another.”

The director will also act as co-composer on the film’s score, alongside Palestinian artists such as techno DJ and producer Sama’ Abdulhadi.

Freedom Theatre was shot over the course of five years, and is currently in the final stages of post-production.

Earlier this year, the Freedom Theatre headlined the Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín in Dublin with Return to Palestine, co-produced with Dublin Theatre Festival and The Freedom Theatre, marking their first ever Irish performance.

Producer Waters has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, and was among the hundreds of artists who recently signed an open letter calling for the Venice Film Festival “to take concrete action in support of Palestine.”