Summaries

Synopsis

A beautiful portrait of everyday Gazan citizens, leading meaningful lives beyond the rubble of perennial conflict.

Multi award winning filmmaker and photographer Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell teamed up and embedded themselves deep within the community and culture of Gaza and established unprecedented access. In doing so they won the trust of an eclectic cast of amazing characters whose lives bring us a deeper understanding of the complexities of the region and the untold story of its undocumented people.

Facing the serene Mediterranean Sea, 17-year-old Karma Khaial stands at the water's edge and senses freedom. But in Gaza, the sea is yet another wall restricting the lives and dreams of its inhabitants.

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 real people who inhabit it. Inside a Gaza City taxi, we meet a teacher, student, and a barber, who all share their dreams and daily predicaments with the driver, Ahmad, using surprising humor and candor. Ahmad 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: colorful yet pained, fragile yet resilient, ancient while looking to the future. Memory plays heavy 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.

In this immersive, intimate film, we uncover the real Gaza, as distinct from the cliché of the news reportage, to find a place of beauty, amidst devastation, as seen through the ordinary yet extraordinary lives of its people.

A people undefeated by their circumstances; an eloquent, spiritually resilient, bleakly funny and morally courageous group of souls, on whose lives the world lens is trained and yet they remain commonly ill-defined.