We see and read news about the Israel-Hamas war often, but being geographically remote we might feel physically and emotionally disconnected from how the conflict impacts the lives of the people who live in Gaza. The number of people who have died since October 7, 2023 continues to rise. What is it like for those who survive?
From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza presents an inside look at life in Gaza right now through the eyes of Palestinian artists and filmmakers. This new film is an anthology of 22 short films depicting the reality of life in a war zone. Violence, suffering, sorrow, and hope intermingle in these stories. The individual films range from three to six minutes. Though they are short, however, these stories will make a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of those who choose to view them. In these stories we see beyond the news to the real people who, each in their own way, in the midst of unutterable horror still hold onto hope.
Recycling, a film by Rabab Khamis, showcases just how precious water is in Gaza. A woman lines up to obtain a container full of water, heaving the heavy liquid to her spot in the refugee camp. There, she is conscious of every precious drop, using it for cooking, bathing, washing dishes or clothes. Where possible, she reuses the water, careful to not waste a single drop. Witnessing how this woman uses a commodity so easily taken for granted moves the heart to compassion.
The films depicting the lives of children were, for me, the most heartbreaking. A School Day, a film by Ahmed Al Danaf, shows a young boy getting ready for school. He packs his backpack and walks through the refugee camp. Finding a particular spot, he sits on a discarded brick and pulls out his book to study. Next to him is a cardboard sign reading, “Here lies Kamal Youssef, Teacher, Martyred 12/01/2024.”
Hana Eleiwa in her film No, refuses to lose hope even amid all the suffering around her. This filmmaker goes out of her way to locate refugees who haven’t given in to the pain they all live with. She showcases in her film a group of musicians who have formed a little band, who make music and sign of a better time in the future where “we will see beautiful smiles again.” This little film reminds the suffering Gazans to say no to despair and yes to life and hope.
Taxi Wanissa, a film by Etimad Washah, is particularly impressive. The short drama follows a man with a donkey and flatbed. He drives around the camp so people can hop on an off the cart, taking a load off their feet, even if just for a few minutes. The film ends abruptly with the filmmaker herself appearing on screen. She explains that as she was working on the film, she learned of the death of her brother and his children. Etimad expresses how she no longer had the heart to finish the film and, instead, gives us her firsthand testimony of the devastating loss that is a daily reality for Gazan refugees.
The films in From Ground Zero vary in style from documentary, to drama, to testimonial, to paper stop-motion animation, to puppets made from trash. One constant in many of the films is a buzzing in the background. It’s the noise from drones that are constantly overhead, making sleep practically impossible.
The thread that ties these short films together, however, is their snapshots of humanity. The men, women, and children whose stories are told in these films are just like you and me. They are trying to make sense out of what their lives have become. One film showcases an artist sifting through her bombed out home where her art is scattered and broken. Someone has written in the dust covering one of her paintings, “There is still hope, Ranin!” She comments, “It’s strange that hope is still here.”
In the 2022 World Communications Day Message entitled, “Listening with the Ear of the Heart,” Pope Francis encourages us to listen to the stories of those who suffer. When we listen, he says, “we have before our eyes not numbers…but the faces, stories, gazes, expectations and sufferings of real men and women to listen to.”
From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza gives us the opportunity to listen to these human stories. How we respond is up to each of us.
In theaters now.
