Gaza

With Otley Film Society

Garry Keane & Andrew McConnell (2019) 92mins, UK
November 28, 2021 6:00 pm
Otley Courthouse, Otley, LS21 3AN

This elegantly shot and masterfully crafted portrait of Palestinian life offers a rare chance to be immersed in the heart of Gaza, as we glimpse behind the walls of this misunderstood land to get to know the real people who inhabit it.

Inside a Gaza City taxi, we meet a teacher, a student and a barber, who all share their dreams and daily predicaments with the driver, Ahmed, using surprising humour and candour. Ahmed could take them anywhere except that a decade-old blockade makes it nearly impossible to leave the enclave.

Like its people, Gaza’s landscape feels kaleidoscopic: colourful yet pained, fragile yet resilient, ancient while looking to the future. Memory plays heavily on its consciousness. But life moves in cycles in Gaza and in spite of everything, joy and humanity can be found in every corner of this mosaic of life.