In 1971, Japanese filmmakers Kōji Wakamatsu and Masao Adachi, who at the time were both members of the Japanese New Left communist guerilla group, the Red Army, traveled to Lebanon to embed themselves with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)-affiliated fedayeen (‘resistance fighters’). During their stay they shot footage of the everyday lives of both the PFLP fighters and Palestinian refugees. Although mainly intended to be a political education documentary on the PFLP aimed at Japanese leftists, Red Army–PFLP: Declaration of World War also acts as a strategic manifesto of sorts for the Japanese Red Army. The final section of the film contains an extended call by Red Army leadership for the formation of an international conference of leftist groups committed to forms of armed struggle, including the PFLP, Black Panthers, and Tupamaros. Despite being extremely low budget, the film contains incredible shots of the conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon during the early 1970s, as well as of PFLP training encampments.

Presented by CCP