From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza
Twenty-two vignettes made by filmmakers living in Gaza capture the tragedy and the courage of those caught up in the devastation.
Image courtesy of Cosmic Cat.
The title tells you a lot but not everything and in one respect it is slightly misleading. This documentary produced by Rashid Masharawi consists of no less than twenty-two short films all set in Gaza and each made by a different filmmaker. However, to describe them as stories is hardly appropriate especially when some of them are very brief indeed. It would be more accurate to regard them as impressions or snapshots of what life in Gaza is like. As such this is not a film about Hamas or about militants nor is it concerned to make political points as such. Instead From Ground Zero exists to show what civilian life is like in Gaza and thus what it means to be somebody for whom Gaza is home at a time when it is being devastated by the Israelis. Throughout this set of films we see again and again destroyed buildings and the mass of tents inhabited by ordinary families who have lost their own homes and have become displaced. These tents fill the screen in images that remind one of the seemingly endless war graves seen in the famous conclusion to Richard Attenborough's 1969 film Oh! What a Lovely War. The real importance of this collection does, of course, lie in the fact that it supplies direct images of human suffering which reveal precisely what Israel does not want the world to see as evidenced by its ban on international journalists from entering Gaza.
Inevitably a review of this kind lacks the space for a detailed assessment of each of the twenty-two films many of which are documentary reports but which also extend to enacted pieces and even to the odd touch of animation. Some tales are told in voice-over and on occasion the location shooting can leave us uncertain when actuality yields to authentic dramatisation of it. Both approaches can produce equally effective results and here it is acted pieces which bring home the desperate search for water (Tamer Nijim’s ‘The Teacher’) and the lack of educational facilities (Ahmed Al Danaf’s ‘A School Day’ in which a boy studies on his own at the grave of a martyred teacher). In the circumstances I will now simply opt to make brief individual mention of some of the other more memorable pieces. Early on in ‘Sorry Cinema’ we have Ahmed Hassouna describing his work as a filmmaker and then indicating how, despite making this short piece, he has given up his dreams of cinema to prioritise helping his family to survive following the death of his brother. Even more striking is what happens in Etimad Washah’s ‘Taxi Wanissa’. Here the director breaks off from filming a tale about a man, a donkey and a food parcel because, on learning of deaths in her own family, she feels compelled to give up her invented tale and to record her own loss direct to camera.
When it comes to a completed and effective short narrative one of the best constructed is Karim Satoum’s ‘Hell’s Heaven’ which shows how a body bag can be utilised by the living. Meanwhile, in ‘Soft Skin’ by Khamis Masharawi one statement in particular stands out. It is a comment by a girl who, talking about her younger sibling, says "Little brother can only say ‘daddy’ and make the sound of an ambulance". Elsewhere filmmakers seek for something positive to say. Mustafa Al Nabih’s ‘Offerings’ may tell of a displaced grandfather but her poetic, humane vision finds something of beauty even in this context. More overtly Hana Eleiwa’s ‘No’ moves on from noting yet another instance of dead bodies being found in rubble to consciously search for subject matter expressing joy, happiness and hope. She finds it through locating musicians who perform affirmative songs. The ‘No’ of the title is a no to despair which is brave and touching even if our knowledge of the still worsening situation leads us to feel that the optimism sought could well be illusory.
Art of other kinds, this time including painting, is present in ‘Out of Frame’ by Neda’a Abu Hassnah which celebrates an artist of Gaza. She is Ranin Al Zeriei, a multi-media visual artist who holds a BA in fine arts. We are told here that "stories of Gaza tell stories of our lives" and that is a comment which applies not only to her art but to this film as a whole. In the last contribution of all, ‘Awakening’ by Mahdi Kreirah, we have a piece which finds an entirely fresh form through which to express the tragedy and the resilience which From Ground Zero captures so clearly. Kreirah uses puppet figures suitably voiced to represent the lives of a couple and their son. The soundtrack indicates the bombing under which they live but the puppet play ends with a song expressing their refusal to give up hope. If ‘Awakening’ sums up the spirit of the people of Gaza, it is further strengthened by being part of this collection: the value of From Ground Zero resides essentially in the combined impact of these pieces, something more potent than any one of them can achieve on its own.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Thaer Abu Zubaidah, Farah Al Zeriei, Maya Akila, Kenzi Al Balbisi, Alaa Nijim, Fahad Yahya Saad, Sabiha Habib, Kamel Mohammad, Diana El Shinawy, Farah Moussa, Myriam Abed Elhadi, Ranin Al Zeriei.
Dir Reema Mahmoud, Mohammad Al Sharif, Ahmed Hassouna, Islam Al Zeriei, Moustafa Koulab, Nidal Damo, Khamis Masharawi, Bashar Al Balbisi, Tamer Nijim, Ahmed Al Danaf, Ala’a Islam Ayoub, Karim Satoum, Alaa Damo, Aws Al-Banna, Rabab Khamis, Etimad Washah, Mustafa Al Nabih, Hana Eleiwa, Wissam Moussa, Basel El Maqousi, Neda’a Abu Hassnah and Mahdi Kreirah, Pro Rashid Masharawi, Laura Nikolov and Rasha Awad, Ph Haihtah Abu Al Sadiq, Mohammad Al Sharif, Youssef Mashharawi, Nader Hourani, Mohamed Sakr, Wissam Moussa, Ahmed Al Danaf, Amjad Al Bayoumi, Youssef Abul Qumsan, Mohammed Al Masarei, Motassim Dawood, Souad Nawajha, Yousef El Mashharawy, Ahmed El Maqousi and Islam Al Zeriei, Ed Denis Le Paven, Pauline Eon, Mohamed Ahmed, Anwar Al Akhras, Fahad El Khaldi and Lyad Abu Zubaydah, Music Naseer Shamma, Mostafa Kulab, Amal Mathlouli, Johanni Curtet, Jabr Al Hajj, Sol Band and Osama Farhat.
Masharawi Fund for Films and Filmmakers in Gaza/Coorigines Production/Metafora Production/Sharjah Art Foundation-Cosmic Cat.
112 mins. France/United Arab Emirates/Jordan/Qatar/Tunisia/Switzerland. 2024. US Rel: 3 January 2025. UK Rel: 12 September 2025. Cert. 12A.
