In the shell of a bombed-out hall in central Gaza, where three years of war have left most buildings in ruins, a small group of young Palestinian women have shown that story can still be made from the wreckage. Their five documentaries, produced through a diploma programme and premiered at the second Gaza International Women's Film Festival, turn hunger, disability, and bereavement into testimony that might otherwise have gone unheard. The launch of a Gaza Cinema Academy suggests an effort to outlast the destruction itself, to train the next generation and carry these voices beyond a land unde
Gaza's Women Filmmakers Turn War's Hunger and Loss Into Cinema as New Academy Launches
Films depict families killed and displaced, including a mother whose eight children died, amid a war that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians.
Women Creating Life from Death, in a hall reduced to ruins
Mark
Why does it matter that these films were screened in a destroyed hall?
Mimi
Because the setting is part of the story. Al-Nakheel Hall is in ruins like most of Gaza's buildings, and the festival's slogan was "Women Creating Life from Death." They made cinema where the cinema infrastructure is gone.
Mark
What are the films actually about?
Mimi
Hunger, disability, orphanhood, lost homes. One follows a mother whose eight children were killed and who turns to songs with her surviving family. Another follows a deaf artist who painted by the roadside after losing his parents.
Luke
Be careful with the framing, though. The claims about starvation as a policy and the 74,000 death toll are presented in the reporting without attribution to a specific body here. And the filmmakers' accounts are their own testimony.
Mimi
Fair. What's directly documented is the event: five films, a 25-woman diploma programme since March, and 73 films from 24 countries at the festival.
Mark
Does the hunger theme connect to the present?
Mimi
Yes. The report says restrictions on goods and cuts to food aid have caused shortages and fears of renewed famine.
Luke
Fears, though, not confirmed famine. That distinction matters.
Mark
What do the organizers want next?
Mimi
Distribution. Mai Masri says they are seeking agreements to screen the films in schools and cultural institutions abroad and at festivals.
Luke
And that's an aim, not a deal. Nothing here says any agreement exists yet.
El Pulso
- Five films made by Palestinian women premiered in a destroyed hall in al-Bureij, turning the rubble itself into a stage.
- Filmmakers are working without functioning institutions, with scarce equipment, frequent power and internet blackouts, and little funding.
- The academy, built with al-Quds Open University, is racing to train 25 women and to give them a way into paid work, in Gaza or online.
- The next push is to secure distributors that can carry these films into schools, cultural centres, and international festivals beyond Palestine.
- The outcome is uncertain: if the deals materialise, these stories travel; if not, they risk staying within the territory that produced them.
In the shell of a bombed-out hall in central Gaza, where three years of war have left most buildings in ruins, a small group of young Palestinian women have shown that story can still be made from the wreckage. Their five documentaries, produced through a diploma programme and premiered at the second Gaza International Women's Film Festival, turn hunger, disability, and bereavement into testimony that might otherwise have gone unheard. The launch of a Gaza Cinema Academy suggests an effort to outlast the destruction itself, to train the next generation and carry these voices beyond a land under siege. Whether those voices find screens far from home remains an open question, and it is one that matters for how the world remembers this war.
On Monday evening, an audience gathered in the ruins of al-Nakheel Hall in al-Bureij, central Gaza, to watch five documentaries made by Palestinian women. Like most buildings in the territory after three years of war, the hall is destroyed. The screening opened the second Gaza International Women's Film Festival, under the slogan "Women Creating Life from Death," and marked the official launch of the Gaza Cinema Academy.
The films carry the weight of what they show. A Sack of Flour, an 11-minute work by Mona Abu Qass, draws on her own experience to trace the use of starvation against Palestinians, following people searching for food, the danger at aid points, and the way hunger lingers in families long after food returns. Beyond Silence, by Raghda al-Buhaisi, follows a deaf artist who never learned to read or sign. His studio in Rafah was destroyed, his parents and relatives killed, and after displacement a family in Deir el-Balah gave him a roadside space to paint. The other films, Soso: The Lifeline, Remnants of Light, and Dandana, follow an orphan and his donkey, a filmmaker mourning her home, and a mother who has lost eight children and turns to songs with her surviving family.
All five came from a diploma programme that began in March and brought together 25 young women. Festival director Ezzedine Shallah said the films give women and girls space to tell their own stories and turn private pain into shared human history. Co-founder Rima Mahmoud described how the war and the long siege have pushed young women to work with simple tools and to fund their projects themselves, and she called for translation, technical support, and partnerships that would give the films wider exposure. Mai Masri, a co-founder based in Lebanon, said the work helps resist erasure and preserve collective memory while building skills and livelihoods.
The festival runs until October 31 with 73 films from 24 countries. The academy's next task is distribution: it is seeking agreements that would bring these five films to educational and cultural institutions abroad and to festivals focused on women's and human rights. Whether those deals come through will determine how far these films travel beyond the festival.
On Monday, in the ruins of the al-Nakheel Hall in al-Bureij, central Gaza, an audience gathered to watch five documentaries made by Palestinian women. The hall, like most buildings in Gaza after three years of war, is destroyed. The war has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians. The evening opened the second Gaza International Women's Film Festival, under the slogan "Women Creating Life from Death," and marked the official launch of the Gaza Cinema Academy.
One of the films was A Sack of Flour, an 11-minute documentary by emerging filmmaker Mona Abu Qass. It draws on her own experience to examine the use of starvation against Palestinians in Gaza. It shows people searching for food, the dangers at aid distribution points, and the lives lost trying to get flour. It also follows how the trauma of hunger stays with families after food becomes available again. That subject is current: Israeli restrictions on goods entering Gaza and cuts to food assistance have caused shortages and fears of a return to famine. Abu Qass told Al Jazeera the idea came from a personal experience and a true story, and that she wanted to capture details showing both suffering and people's determination to hold on to life.
Another film, Beyond Silence, comes from emerging filmmaker and journalist Raghda al-Buhaisi. It follows a deaf artist who never learned to read, write or use sign language. His art studio in Rafah, in southern Gaza, was destroyed, and his parents and several relatives were killed. After displacement to Deir el-Balah, another family took him in and set up a modest studio by the roadside. His paintings carry loss and displacement through colour and line. Al-Buhaisi said she wanted to show the added burdens people with disabilities face in war: displacement, family loss and ruined livelihoods.
Three more films by emerging women filmmakers completed the program. Soso: The Lifeline follows an orphaned child and his donkey, who help people survive. Remnants of Light follows a filmmaker grappling with the loss of her family and home. Dandana tells of a mother whose eight children were killed, and who turns to Palestinian songs with her surviving family to cope with grief. All five films came out of a filmmaking diploma programme that began in March and brought together 25 young Palestinian women.
Festival director Ezzedine Shallah said the films draw on what women and girls lived through during the war, giving them space to tell their stories in their own voices. He said that though the subjects differ, the films turn individual pain into broader human stories and preserve accounts that might never otherwise reach a screen. The festival runs until October 31 and includes 73 films from 24 countries.
Making films in Gaza remains hard. Cultural institutions have been destroyed, equipment is scarce, funding is limited, and power and internet outages are frequent. Women filmmakers also struggle to reach training, production opportunities and international festivals. Rima Mahmoud, a filmmaker and festival co-founder, said the war and the Israeli siege, which predates 2023, have pushed young women to work with simple methods and fund projects themselves. She said the films deserve international exposure and their makers need technical and financial support, translation, and partnerships with festivals and platforms.
Mai Masri, a Palestinian filmmaker based in Lebanon and another co-founder, said the films help young women resist erasure and preserve collective memory while building skills and access to work, in Gaza or through digital platforms. The academy has developed its diploma with al-Quds Open University, accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
The next step is distribution. Masri said the academy is seeking agreements with distributors to show the films in educational and cultural institutions outside Palestine, and on international platforms and festivals focused on women's and human rights. Whether those deals materialize will determine if these five films travel beyond the festival.
Citas Notables
Despite limited resources, these films deserve international exposure.— Rima Mahmoud, festival co-founder
The films preserve stories that might otherwise never reach the screen.— Ezzedine Shallah, festival director (paraphrased)
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