Palestinian Voices: Between Two Crossings
Arab Cinema ReImagined is the Arab Film and Media Institute’s Virtual Cinema Platform
Until the end of the year, AFMI is curating a series of short and feature films to amplify Palestinian Voices as a resource of information and context on the situation currently unfolding in Palestine.
Between Two Crossings بين معبرين is a documentary film that follows the journey of Nour, a Palestinian student from Gaza who had a scholarship to enroll in Portland State University in the United States. But in order to get there, Nour struggled to find a way to travel through the only two gates separating the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world: Erez Checkpoint, controlled by Israel; and Rafah Crossing, controlled by Egypt. The documentary is a presentation of the extreme restrictions of freedom of movement that Gaza has endured for decades and shines a humanizing spotlight on everyday people navigating the anxiety of waiting and attempting to cross the border.
About the filmmakers:
Director Yassir Murtaja was a Palestinian journalist and filmmaker from Gaza. He was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper while covering the protest of the Great March of Return on April 6, 2018. Many people around the world witnessed Yassir’s wish before he died through his Facebook status: that one day he wanted to be able to see Gaza and the world from the window of an airplane.
Co-Director Rushdi Al-Sarraj was Yassir’s best friend and partner. He was killed in Gaza on October 22, 2023, by a targeted bomb from an Israeli warplane, dropped on his house.
Yassir and Rushdi both started and worked hard on a media production company called Ain Media. We share this film in honor of their memory.
