From Ground Zero – Masharawi Films Fund

“From Ground Zero”

3 to 6 minutes Films ...

This initiative, under the name of “Ground Zero”, aims to give artists and filmmakers in Gaza the opportunity to articulate their narratives through short films (fictional/ documentary/ experimental). Each film, with a length of 3 minutes, will serve as a canvas for the expression of personal stories.

... untold stories

The project aims to produce twenty different artistic works, culminating in a total length of approximately 60 minutes, ready for presentation in both individual and collective screenings. The supervision of the project’s implementation will be entrusted to a collective of Arab and international filmmakers. Working closely with Gazan filmmakers, this international team will facilitate the development of ideas and provide artistic guidance to ensure the creation of high quality films with global appeal.

From Ground Zero Artistic Advisers

Layaly Badr

Rasmi Damo

Dorra Bouchoucha

Abedalsalam alhajj

Michel Kammoun

3 to 6 Minutes Films

Out of frame

Nidaa Abu Hasna

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 to hold her art exhibition in words.

Hill of Heaven

Kareem Satoum

Docu-Drama

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

Charm

Bashar Al-Balbeisi

Experimental Fiction

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

Awakening

Mahdi Karirah

marionnette

A father who lost his memory ten years ago due to an explosion in 2014 regains it in another explosion in 2024.

Jad and Natalie

Aws Al-Banna

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.

No

Hana Awad

Documentary

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

Everything is fine

Nidal Damo

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.

Taxi Waneesa

E’temad Weshah

Fiction Based On A True Story

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

24 Hours

Alaa Damo

Documentary

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

Selfies

Reema Mahmoud

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.

No Signal

Muhammad Alshareef

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.

Soft Skin

Khamees Masharawi

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.

Flash Back

Islam Al Zrieai

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 practises her favourite hobby, dancing.

Fragments

Basil Al-Maqousi

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.

Offerings

Mustafa Al-Nabih

Fiction

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

School Day

Ahmed Al-Danf

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.

Farah and Meryam

Wissam Moussa

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

Overburden

Ala’a Ayob

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.

The Teacher

Tamer Najm

Documentary

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

Recycling

Rabab Khamees

Documentary

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

Echo

Mustafa Kallab

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.

Sorry Cinema

Ahmad Hassouna

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 apologises to cinema.