Latest news with #FromGroundZero
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Personal Stories From Gaza Screen at Amman Festival Via Rashid Masharawi's Bold Film Initiative, From Ground Zero
AMMAN, Jordan — As Gaza remains engulfed in one of the most devastating conflicts in its modern history, Gaza-born Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi is focused on something both impossibly difficult and urgently necessary: storytelling. The veteran director, best known for 'Curfew' and 'Ticket to Jerusalem,' is the force behind From Ground Zero and its expanded follow-up From Ground Zero+, initiatives aimed at helping emerging Palestinian filmmakers document life inside Gaza. More from Variety 'In the Name of the Father' Director Jim Sheridan Talks Sea Lions, Family Road Trips and the Politics of Storytelling Expert Aleksi Hyvärinen Talks at Amman About How AI Is Rewriting Indie Filmmaking Gaza-Set Fatma Hassona Documentary 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk' Sells Wide for Cercamon (EXCLUSIVE) Several short films from the project have screened at this year'sAmman International Film Festival, which wraps July 10, offering audiences a deeply personal look at individual lives too often reduced to numbers. 'We were completely numbers — 100, 200, 1,000,' Masharawi says. 'Part of this project is about turning those numbers into humans again. People with names, eyes, colors, dreams.' Initially launched as a short-form workshop concept, From Ground Zero produced 22 shorts, each running between three and six minutes. The follow-up, From Ground Zero+, expands the format to include longer documentaries, up to an hour each, with 10 films in development. According to Masharawi, five are complete, and more are in production and post-production, with editing taking place in France. 'As long as the war continues, our cameras will continue,' he says. 'We wanted these films to be cinema, not news. Personal stories, not just reactions.' That distinction, between reactive documentation and intentional artistic creation, is crucial to Masharawi's vision. Despite working remotely with a team of five assistants inside Gaza, he served as the artistic advisor and story mentor, ensuring the filmmakers had both structure and creative freedom. 'I left space for the filmmakers to express not only their feelings, but also their cinematic ideas,' he explains. 'Some films are fiction, animation, video art, even marionette theater. Everything was open.' Stories From Inside The challenges of production were, as Masharawi notes, unlike anything faced in traditional filmmaking. Electricity was rare. Internet access often meant venturing into high-risk areas near hospitals and media tents, locations frequently targeted by Israeli airstrikes. 'We needed to move people, give them cameras, transport hard drives, and to talk, they had to go where there was Internet,' he says. 'Those were the most dangerous places.' Despite these constraints, the films that emerged are rich with humanity, loss and unexpected resilience. One four-minute short, 'Jad and Natalie,' tells the story of a man mourning a lost love. The filmmaker, unsure his story was appropriate at such a moment, was encouraged by Masharawi to proceed. 'He was shy, but I told him, 'This is exactly the story we need, something deeply human, far from the news,'' Masharawi recalls. 'And it turned out to be a very beautiful film.' Another, 'Taxi Wanissa,' follows a man using a donkey-drawn cart as a taxi service after fuel supplies ran out. The filmmaker, Etimad Washah, was only two days into filming when tragedy struck. She lost her brother, his wife and their children in a bombing. 'She appears in the film and says, 'I'm sorry, I can't finish it,'' Masharawi recounts. 'It's the first time I've seen that in cinema — where the filmmaker tells you, on camera, why the film has to end.' Some projects were never completed. 'One filmmaker lost everything: his camera, his laptop, his house,' Masharawi says. 'He was living in a tent. How could he go shoot?' Festival Run and Global Reach Despite the overwhelming odds, From Ground Zero has found remarkable success internationally. The collection has screened at more than 350 film festivals like Toronto, at Cannes in events organized in parallel to the festival, and it was shortlisted for the Oscars. In France, it's had a theatrical release, and it has been shown at institutions including Unesco in Paris and the United Nations in New York. 'For me, it's also about memory,' Masharawi says, 'and about showing the people in Gaza that they're not alone. Festivals, articles, audiences …. It means something. It matters.' Above all, he believes in cinema as a form of cultural protection, a means to preserve identity, memory and humanity in the face of destruction. 'Cinema can carry feelings, thoughts, dreams,' he says with gravitas. 'It becomes a land that no one can occupy.' Looking Ahead Asked what success might look like in 2035, Masharawi doesn't speak in terms of box office or distribution deals. He speaks, instead, of permanence, of history remembered, of stories told. 'No war lasts forever. No occupation lasts forever,' he says. 'Governments may win or lose battles. But people, the population, never lose. They are like trees, like sand, like the sea. You cannot win against nature.' For now, From Ground Zero+ continues to grow, despite the circumstances. As long as there are stories to be told from Gaza, Masharawi will keep making space for them. 'This is not my film,' he says. 'This is our film. I just give them the platform.' Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Personal Stories From Gaza Screen at Amman Festival Via Rashid Masharawi's Bold Film Initiative, From Ground Zero
AMMAN, Jordan — As Gaza remains engulfed in one of the most devastating conflicts in its modern history, Gaza-born Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi is focused on something both impossibly difficult and urgently necessary: storytelling. The veteran director, best known for 'Curfew' and 'Ticket to Jerusalem,' is the force behind From Ground Zero and its expanded follow-up From Ground Zero+, initiatives aimed at helping emerging Palestinian filmmakers document life inside Gaza. More from Variety 'In the Name of the Father' Director Jim Sheridan Talks Sea Lions, Family Road Trips and the Politics of Storytelling Expert Aleksi Hyvärinen Talks at Amman About How AI Is Rewriting Indie Filmmaking Gaza-Set Fatma Hassona Documentary 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk' Sells Wide for Cercamon (EXCLUSIVE) Several short films from the project have screened at this year'sAmman International Film Festival, which wraps July 10, offering audiences a deeply personal look at individual lives too often reduced to numbers. 'We were completely numbers — 100, 200, 1,000,' Masharawi says. 'Part of this project is about turning those numbers into humans again. People with names, eyes, colors, dreams.' Initially launched as a short-form workshop concept, From Ground Zero produced 22 shorts, each running between three and six minutes. The follow-up, From Ground Zero+, expands the format to include longer documentaries, up to an hour each, with 10 films in development. According to Masharawi, five are complete, and more are in production and post-production, with editing taking place in France. 'As long as the war continues, our cameras will continue,' he says. 'We wanted these films to be cinema, not news. Personal stories, not just reactions.' That distinction, between reactive documentation and intentional artistic creation, is crucial to Masharawi's vision. Despite working remotely with a team of five assistants inside Gaza, he served as the artistic advisor and story mentor, ensuring the filmmakers had both structure and creative freedom. 'I left space for the filmmakers to express not only their feelings, but also their cinematic ideas,' he explains. 'Some films are fiction, animation, video art, even marionette theater. Everything was open.' Stories From Inside The challenges of production were, as Masharawi notes, unlike anything faced in traditional filmmaking. Electricity was rare. Internet access often meant venturing into high-risk areas near hospitals and media tents, locations frequently targeted by Israeli airstrikes. 'We needed to move people, give them cameras, transport hard drives, and to talk, they had to go where there was Internet,' he says. 'Those were the most dangerous places.' Despite these constraints, the films that emerged are rich with humanity, loss and unexpected resilience. One four-minute short, 'Jad and Natalie,' tells the story of a man mourning a lost love. The filmmaker, unsure his story was appropriate at such a moment, was encouraged by Masharawi to proceed. 'He was shy, but I told him, 'This is exactly the story we need, something deeply human, far from the news,'' Masharawi recalls. 'And it turned out to be a very beautiful film.' Another, 'Taxi Wanissa,' follows a man using a donkey-drawn cart as a taxi service after fuel supplies ran out. The filmmaker, Etimad Washah, was only two days into filming when tragedy struck. She lost her brother, his wife and their children in a bombing. 'She appears in the film and says, 'I'm sorry, I can't finish it,'' Masharawi recounts. 'It's the first time I've seen that in cinema — where the filmmaker tells you, on camera, why the film has to end.' Some projects were never completed. 'One filmmaker lost everything: his camera, his laptop, his house,' Masharawi says. 'He was living in a tent. How could he go shoot?' Festival Run and Global Reach Despite the overwhelming odds, From Ground Zero has found remarkable success internationally. The collection has screened at more than 350 film festivals like Toronto, at Cannes in events organized in parallel to the festival, and it was shortlisted for the Oscars. In France, it's had a theatrical release, and it has been shown at institutions including Unesco in Paris and the United Nations in New York. 'For me, it's also about memory,' Masharawi says, 'and about showing the people in Gaza that they're not alone. Festivals, articles, audiences …. It means something. It matters.' Above all, he believes in cinema as a form of cultural protection, a means to preserve identity, memory and humanity in the face of destruction. 'Cinema can carry feelings, thoughts, dreams,' he says with gravitas. 'It becomes a land that no one can occupy.' Looking Ahead Asked what success might look like in 2035, Masharawi doesn't speak in terms of box office or distribution deals. He speaks, instead, of permanence, of history remembered, of stories told. 'No war lasts forever. No occupation lasts forever,' he says. 'Governments may win or lose battles. But people, the population, never lose. They are like trees, like sand, like the sea. You cannot win against nature.' For now, From Ground Zero+ continues to grow, despite the circumstances. As long as there are stories to be told from Gaza, Masharawi will keep making space for them. 'This is not my film,' he says. 'This is our film. I just give them the platform.' Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Why are some trying to silence our film on Columbia's Gaza protests?
Recently, The Encampments opened at the Angelika Film Center in New York to a record-setting box office for an independent film – along with a storm of controversy. For us, as the distributor, the atmosphere was far from celebratory. The theater was forced to hire additional security, notify police and prepare staff for harassment in response to protests and threats from people who hadn't even seen the film. What is so dangerous about Palestinian films? The Encampments offers unprecedented access to the student protest movement for divestment against Israel's genocide in Gaza that began at Columbia University and spread nationwide. It captures the raw, unfiltered reality of the encampments and the students who risked their futures to speak out. It directly challenges the dominant, distorted narrative portraying these protests as violent or antisemitic, revealing instead a disciplined, principled movement rooted in solidarity, anti-racism, free speech and human rights – with many Jewish students at the core. That, it seems, is enough to make many feel threatened. We're now in an era in which even mentioning the word 'Palestine' is treated as a provocation. Donald Trump has openly used 'Palestinian' as a slur to attack opponents. Under his second administration, suppression and fearmongering are reaching levels more typical of a dictatorship than a democracy. Student activists such as Mahmoud Khalil, featured in the film, and Rumeysa Ozturk have been snatched by plainclothes Ice officers, disappeared from public view and threatened with deportation for criticizing Israel. This isn't dystopian fiction. This is the United States in 2025. And yet, films like The Encampments are being met with hostility. Before opening weekend, an angry patron vandalized the Angelika lobby and berated staff. Meanwhile, social media ads for the film are being censored. Behind it all is a pattern: politically motivated efforts to silence Palestinian voices. It's not just wrong, it's a threat to our most fundamental freedom: the right to free speech. When the Academy-shortlisted documentary From Ground Zero, which we also distribute, was released, it was widely praised for its humanist lens and deliberate avoidance of politics. Despite that and near perfect reviews, CUFI (Christians United for Israel) sent letters to Academy voters urging them not to support the film and pressured theaters to pull it. After a screening was scheduled in Gainesville, Florida, the venue received threats from donors to withdraw funding. It's extremely unfair for venue owners to be put in such a situation by politically driven pressure campaigns. We hope that despite attempts to intimidate them, theaters will not succumb to the pressure, and instead will make the right moral and business decision to show these films, for which there is clearly an appetite. The pressure doesn't end with threats or vandalism. Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning No Other Land, was beaten by Israeli settlers and soldiers, seemingly in retaliation for filming what Israel wants hidden. According to Ballal, his name and the word 'Oscar' were shouted during the attack. And just last week, we were devastated to learn that the Gaza-based journalist Fatima Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike the very same week a film featuring her as the main subject was accepted into the Cannes film festival. In Miami Beach, the city's mayor threatened to shut down O Cinema for screening No Other Land. When elected officials dictate what art can or cannot be shown, we're no longer dealing with discourse – we're dealing with censorship. And yet, the tides are slowly turning. Attempts to silence these films have failed. No Other Land won an Academy Award. The assault on Ballal prompted international outcry. The mayor of Miami Beach backed down. CUFI's letters were largely ignored. And films such as From Ground Zero, No Other Land and The Encampments are proving through box office performance that there is a strong demand. Still, there is a long road ahead. Arabs and Muslims remain deeply underrepresented in the film industry, both in front of and behind the camera. Zooming in further, Palestinians in specific are virtually invisible, with Mo Amer standing as a rare and singular exception. This is the crux: Palestinian films aren't dangerous because they incite violence. They're 'dangerous' because they offer a perspective contrary to the dominant narrative of the US government and Israel. The Encampments is not just a film – it's a test. Of courage, of integrity and of whether this country still believes in freedom of expression. Theaters that screen it are doing more than showing a documentary. They are standing up for the idea that cinema should remain a space for free speech and artistic expression. The question is: do all voices actually have an equal right to be heard – and if so, when will industry leaders stop being complicit in their silencing? The answer should have come long ago – but it's not too late. Hamza and Badie Ali are the co-founders of Watermelon Pictures, a Palestinian-owned film label dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices The Encampments will open in the UK in early 2025.
CairoScene
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Zawya Cinema to Screen Gaza-Filmed Docu-Series ‘From Ground Zero'
Launched by Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi, 'From Ground Zero' gives 22 filmmakers from Gaza a platform to tell their own stories of war, survival and resistance. Apr 23, 2025 As part of the 8th edition of Cairo Cinema Days, Downtown Cairo's Zawya Cinema will host the Egyptian premiere of 'From Ground Zero', a series of 22 short films produced in Gaza under siege. The screening begins on April 24th, with all films subtitled in English. The initiative was launched by veteran Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi to create space for filmmakers from Gaza to tell their own stories—first-hand perspectives that are often erased or sidelined in global coverage of the ongoing war. The project brings together fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental film to explore daily life, memory, displacement, grief, and resistance in a war-torn context. Tickets are priced at EGP 100, with the full screening schedule to be announced by Zawya Cinema in the coming days.
Arab Times
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
‘From Ground Zero': film sheds light on genocide in Gaza
KUWAIT CITY, April 12: Palestinian Ambassador to Kuwait Rami Tahboub confirmed that 'From Ground Zero' is the most powerful and important movie ever filmed in Gaza Strip, three weeks after the start of the genocidal war waged by the occupying State against the Palestinian people, particularly those in the Gaza Strip indicating that Palestinian directors residing in Gaza produced the movie. Tahboub made the statement on the sidelines of the screening of the movie as part of the Palestine Film Festival organized recently by the American University of Kuwait (AUK) in cooperation with the Palestinian Embassy. Several diplomats, citizens, expatriates and supporters of the Palestinian cause attended the event. He stated that the producers of the movie are eyewitnesses to what has been happening in recent periods, indicating the movie is a collection of 20 short films. He pointed out that the goal is to inform the entire world about what is happening in Gaza in this difficult period. He said more than 100 people -- all filmmakers -- worked in the filming set. 'They faced difficulties due to power and Internet outages, as well as the need to communicate with the core team, including Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi. They risked their lives from the North to the South of the Gaza Strip to document these events,' he disclosed. He affirmed that the film has been shortlisted for an Oscar. 'It has been screened at 100 international film festivals, and there are attempts to screen it at the Cannes Film Festival,' he added. He emphasized that the film's ultimate message is for the world to know the genocide taking place in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian people and for viewers to experience the moment that Palestinians have experienced. In addition, an Arabic evening event in Malmö, Sweden included the screening of 'From Ground Zero: Untold Stories from Gaza'. This project brings together 22 short films produced by talented directors from Gaza. Launched by prominent Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, the initiative emerged amidst the conflict and aims to provide a platform for young artists to express themselves through their craft. Each short film, ranging from three to seven minutes in length, offers a unique perspective on the current reality in Gaza. The project captures the diverse experiences of life in the Palestinian enclave like the challenges, tragedies, and moments of resilience faced by its people. Blending genres such as fiction, documentary, animation and experimental film; the movie presents a rich web of stories that reflect the grief, joy and hope found in Gaza. Despite the harsh recording conditions, Gaza's vibrant art scene shines through this collection, offering an intimate and powerful portrayal of the daily lives and perpetual mindset of its people. Present at the event were Arab and European filmmakers in Malmö, including the director of the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, renowned artist and director Mohammad Kablawi, and the project's founding director Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi who responded to the queries of a large audience at Panora Cinema after the screening.
