From Ground Zero to Screen at the 28th Arab Film Festival

We are honored to screen From Ground Zero at the 28th Arab Film Festival, Palestine’s Submission to the 97th Academy Awards.
Get your tickets for From Ground Zero today, or buy a Festival Pass.

From Ground Zero is a compelling project that brings together 22 short films created by talented filmmakers from Gaza. Launched by Rashid Masharawi, a renowned Palestinian filmmaker, the initiative was born against the backdrop of conflict and aims to provide a platform for young artists to express themselves through their craft.

Each film, ranging in length from 3 to 6 minutes, presents a unique perspective on the current reality in Gaza. The project captures the diverse experiences of life in the Palestinian enclave, including the challenges, tragedies and moments of resilience faced by its people. Using a mix of genres including fiction, documentary, docu-fiction, animation and experimental cinema, From Ground Zero presents a rich diversity of stories that reflect the sorrow, joy and hope inherent in Gazan life.

Despite the harsh filming conditions, Gaza’s vibrant artistic scene shines through this collection, offering an intimate and powerful portrait of daily life and the enduring spirit of its people.

Written & Directed by AHMED AL DANAF, AHMED HASSOUNA, ALAA DAMO, ALAA AYOUB, AWS AL BANNA, BASHAR AL BALBISI, BASEL AL MAQOUSI, ETIMMAD WISHAH, HANA ELEIWA, ISLAM AL-ZAREI, KHAMIS MASHARAWI, KARIM SATOUM, MUHAMMAD AL SHARIF, MUSTAFA AL NABIH, MUSTAFA KULAB, NIDA’A ABU HASNA, NIDAL DAMO, RABAB KHAMIS, RIMA MAHMOUD, THAER ABU ZUBAIDA, TAMER NIJIM, WISSAM MOUSSA
Produced by RASHID MASHARAWI & LAURA NIKOLOV
Run Time: 111

Year: 2024
Country: Palestine
Language: Arabic

The full festival schedule and tickets to individual screenings will be available soon. In the meantime, you can get a festival pass at a discounted price.

From Ground Zero: 22 Films – 22 Artists – Gaza

Part 1

Reema Mahmoud – SELFIES (Documentary)

A flash drive and a letter sealed inside a bottle and thrown into the sea capture a woman’s attempt to not lose herself in the wreckage of war.

Muhammad Al Sharif – NO SIGNAL (Fiction based on a true story)

A man’s efforts to rescue his brother from under the rubbles. Their conversation is shrouded with uncertainty as they suffer equipment shortage and a long waitlist of families in similar situations delaying the civil defense forces.

Ahmed Hassouna – SORRY CINEMA (Documentary)

Film director Ahmed Hassouna, who has spent his life running from the art of cinema, now finds himself running to save his life and that of his family on a journey in search of food and safety. His priorities change and he apologizes to cinema.

Islam Al Zeriei – FLASHBACK (Documentary)

Farah hates the sound of planes and artillery, and after her house was bombed, she went to bed early for fear of the unknown. To combat the sounds of war, she puts headphones on her ears and practices her favorite hobby, dancing.

Mustafa Kolab – ECHO (Experimental documentary)

A long dark night at the Gaza Sea. The sounds of bomb, ambulances, and cries for help. The film captures the physical and metaphorical darkness enshrouding Gaza.

Nidal Damo – ALL IS FINE (Documentary)

A stand-up comedian in Gaza borrows from the daily struggles of survival to bring solace to a wounded audience in a refugee camp.

Khamis Masharawi – SOFT SKIN (Documentary + Animation)

Documentary animation exploring the war from children’s perspective as they write their names on their bodies for identification in case they are killed by indiscriminate bombing.

Bashar Al Balbisi – CHARM (Experimental Fiction)

The dancing girl loses members of the dance group, during war and asylum she begins a journey to search for them, she manages to communicate with them spiritually.

Tamer Nijim – THE TEACHER (Documentary)

A displaced teacher’s daily journey from one queue to the next struggling to secure his most basic needs.

Ahmed Al Danaf – A SCHOOL DAY (Drama)

Khaled, the hardworking student, makes his way through the tents, markets and ruins to his non-existent school and ends up sitting with his school bag in a cemetery in front of the shrine of his teacher, who died in the war.

Alaa Islam Ayoub – OVERLOAD (Experimental)

A young girl feels guilty because she did not take her books with her before she was forced to leave her home, making her feel like a prisoner in one of the novels about the Palestinian migration in 1948.

Part 2

Karim Satoum – HELL’S HAVEN (Docu-Drama)

A panicked Kareem wakes up wrapped in a white shroud. The film pieces together memories from the night before.

Alaa Damo – 24 HOURS (Documentary)

Within 24 hours, Musab is rescued twice from the rubble in areas he was told were “safe”. An alive Musab reviews social media news of what happened that day.

Aws Al Banna – JAD AND NATALIE (Documentary)

Aws, a theatre actor from Gaza, returns to his destroyed neighborhood. Under the rubble of one home lies his beloved Nour, along with all their dreams of a life together.

Rabab Khamis – RECYCLING (Documentary)

A refugee family must make the most out of their water, which has become a scarce commodity.

Etimad Washah – TAXI WANISSA (Fiction based on a true story)

Taxi Wanissa is a donkey from Gaza. When her beloved owner Ahmad is lost in an explosion, the heartbroken Waneesa refuses to leave him behind.

Mustafa Al Nabih – OFFERINGS (Fiction)

A woman novelist’s experience of displacement and collapse of civilization around her as she searches for a better life.

Hana Eleiwa – NO (Documentary)

A filmmaker’s journey to find a moment of joy in the midst of unimaginable destruction, death and loss in Gaza.

Wissam Moussa – FARAH AND MYRIAM (Documentary)

The documentary explores 10-year-old Farah’s life after the war, in which she saw her best friend Mariam lose her family to a bombing. Having spent her life besieged in Gaza, Farah ponders freeing her father’s pet birds from their own cage.

Basel El Maqousi – FRAGMENTS (Video Art)

A juxtaposition of video, photography, and paintings intercut with an artist working on a painting that is completed at the end of the film.

Neda’a Abu Hasna – OUT OF FRAME (Documentary)

A visual artist from northern Gaza returns to her destroyed studio, searching for what remains of her artwork. She tells us about her paintings in an effort to hold her art exhibition in words.

Mahdi Kreirah – AWAKENING (Puppet Animation)

A father who lost his memory ten years ago due to an explosion in 2014 regains it after one during the 2024 war.

Get your tickets for From Ground Zero today, or buy a Festival Pass.

You can also read more about our Opening Night film, Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza on our blog and get Opening Night tickets on our festival site.