From Ground Zero +
Gaza: Resisting, Bearing Witness, Creating
Art becomes a means of bearing witness to the reality of genocide and of preserving memory, in the hope of prompting action from the international community. These narratives and testimonies speak to both the everyday and the extraordinary: fear and loss, but also dreams, solidarity and perseverance. They reflect the resilience of a people fighting for survival in the face of systematic attempts at erasure by the Israeli government, carried out amid widespread silence.
Speakers
Muhammad Al-Sharif, Aws Al Banna and I’timad Washah Directors of the short films featured (by videoconference)
Rashid Masharawi Artistic supervisor of From Ground Zero +
Yara El-Ghadban Author and editor of Gaza écrit Gaza
Moderator
Nicolas Wadimoff Filmmaker
Introduction
A representative of MSF Switzerland
Discussions are interpreted in English
From Ground Zero +
This selection comprises three short films made in Gaza. Initiated by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, the project creates space for Gazan filmmakers to recount the war and bear witness to the Israeli invasion.
⚠︎ The films of this selection contain disturbing scenes and narratives that may be sensitive to some viewers (civils massacre).
Hassan, aged seventeen, is forced to cross Gaza from north to south. During this forced displacement, he is separated from his family. Experiencing war and hunger, he moves from one refuge to another, sustained by a single desire: to return home and be reunited with his loved ones.
A young Palestinian theatre director accompanies teenage girls traumatised by the war. Through theatre, they attempt to transform their pain into performance, while the artist himself confronts his own grief.
In Palestinian refugee camps, women struggle each day to survive under inhuman conditions. Deprived of life’s essentials, daily existence becomes an act of silent resistance.
Aws Al Banna
I’timad Washah