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Review: From Ground Zero

— by BEV QUESTAD —

A snow-white fuzzy donkey is lovingly cared for in a small rustic corral. It is lucky to have enough food and water. Daily its owner hitches the donkey up to a flat-bed cart and rides around the remains of a dusty town, picking up and dropping off strangers and their belongings. There is no charge. It is an idyllic portrait of a man helping out, not for money but for kindness.

“Taxi Wanissa” is Etimad Washah’s short story, one of 22 that comprise “From Ground Zero.” It abruptly ends with a message from its director. Washah announces with sore, puffed eyes that because her brother and his children were just killed in a bombing, she has lost her heart to finish this film.

Washah has captured the heart of the matter. No matter the number and type of good deeds, Gazans are caught in a hell of suffering and destruction. There is no exit.

Washah used to be the Video Program Coordinator at the Women’s Affairs Centre in Gaza. She has been a director of films on women’s issues, a trainer in cinematography and editing, and has directed women’s film festivals and student film projects. She was one of several who submitted a clip of her experience in Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023.

The story behind “From Ground Zero” begins with Rashid Masharawi, a filmmaker born in Gaza but now living in The West Bank. He forwarded the clips he received to a jury who decided which to accept and format into an anthology which eventually qualified as Palestine’s entry to the 2025 Academy Awards for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film.

Originally Masharawi had founded the Masharawi Fund for Cinema and Filmmakers in Gaza with the goal to support Palestinian filmmaking. After Oct. 7 occurred, he found himself in the unique position of being able to ask for filmed reflections and documentation of life in a continual war zone.

The stories are not exactly what you’d expect. “No” shows Hana Eleiwa’s determined search for joy. “I reject despair, frustration… What if we sang a song of love and hope?” She stridently asks around and finds eager children running to their teacher. They happily form a circle and sing. Later she enters a wood framed tent. She is served hot tea and the music, a tambourine and guitar, begins. “Pursue your dreams and build Palestine – we will see beautiful smiles again. Happy days will return.”

Like the other filmmakers, Eleiwa has an impressive dossier. A journalist, Eleiwa was the founder and director of an agency for multi-media services and a lecturer at the University College of Applied Sciences (destroyed in August 2024).

Each of the 22 short films, between three to six minutes long, work together like a patchwork quilt to commemorate the courage, resilience and creativity of the Gazan Palestinians.

10/10



Credits

Producer and Project Supervisor: Rashid Masharawi
Executive Producer: Laura Nikolov
Filmmakers: Reema Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Ahmed Hassouna, Islam Al Zeriei, Mustafa Kolab, Nidal Damo, Khamis Masharawi, Bashar Al Balbisi, Tamer Nijim, Ahmed Al Danaf, Alaa 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 Hasna, and Mahdi Kreirah
Editors: Denis Le Paven, Pauline Eon
Editor and Post-Production Supervisor: Denis Le Maven
Sound Designer and Mixer: Sarah Fasseur-Leroux
Production Coordinator (Gaza): Yafa Masharawi
Production Coordinator (France): Alexis Auffret
Graphic Designer: Ala’ Abu Ghoush
Music By: Naseer Shamma
Produced by: Masharawi Fund for Films and Filmmakers in Gaza and Coorigines Production
Language: Arabic with English Subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Country: Palestine, France, Qatar, Jordan
Distributor: Watermelon Pictures
Run Time: 112 minutes
Release: Jan. 3, 2025
NEW YORK – The Quad Cinemas
LOS ANGELES – Leammle Theaters
SAN FRANCISCO – The Roxie
CHICAGO – Gene Siskel Film Center
Official Website: https://www.instagram.com/masharawi_film_fund_gaza/

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