A PALESTINIAN filmmaker has said it is important to show that those in Gaza are more than just numbers ahead of the official release of an anthology film which showcases a day in the life of those living in a war zone.
From Ground Zero is a collection of short films shot by 22 filmmakers in Gaza that pieces together a time capsule of the ongoing catastrophe in the territory as they share messages of heartbreak and defiance.
Each film ranges in length from three to six minutes and presents a different perspective of the lived reality in Gaza, as the audience is given an on-the-ground perspective.
Rashid Masharawi, producer of From Ground Zero, said he wanted to help create the film because it was not enough for him to just “sit and watch and cry in front of the television”.
“I want to be active as a filmmaker, so the only thing I can do is share these stories with the world,” he said.
Using a mix of genres including documentary, docu-fiction, stop-motion animation, and experimental cinema, From Ground Zero has been critically acclaimed for its ability to capture the experiences of Palestinian life.
Although the film showcases the hardships of day-to-day life in Gaza, Masharawi, who lives in France, said he hopes From Ground Zero will make those living in the war zone feel seen and for them not to give up hope.
“We are together telling these people, we think about you, we write about you, you are not alone.
“It supports the people. It gives them more strength. There is tomorrow. It's not the end of life.”
Shot in between, and sometimes during, bombing raids across nine months from 2023-2024, From Ground Zero will be released in cinemas across the UK on September 12.
One of the most important aspects of the film for Masharawi was to depict the human element of those living in Palestine.
He explained that people tend to get lost in news stories and are represented in reporting as a collective number of casualties, and he wanted to show that those killed in Gaza are more than just numbers.
“All the time the news is showing the Palestinians as numbers, for example, today around 90 people were killed,” Masharawi said.
“They are not 90 people, just numbers, each person, they have names, they have eyes, they have thoughts, they have dreams.”
He added: “I think the way we went about with From Ground Zero was to translate these numbers.”
From Ground Zero includes films like Damo Nidal’s Everything Is Fine, where the audience follows the daily life of a comedian before he performs his stand-up set in a bombed venue and Reema Mahmoud’s documentary, Selfies, which sits with a young woman while she applies her make-up to hide the physical signs of trauma.
The film serves as a reminder that so many Palestinians are far from any politicians or political parties and have been caught up in the suffering caused by Israel’s war against Hamas.
“The UK audience needs to know who these people are that the Israeli’s are killing.
“They are innocent people. They have nothing to do with the war. They have nothing to do with what's going on.
“They just were there at this place at this time, and they are not Hamas and they are not activists.”
Masharawi went on to explain that everyone should care about the genocide in Gaza as we should all care as fellow human beings.
“I want the UK people to understand that they are not only killing Palestinians in Gaza, they are killing humanity in Gaza,” he said.
“I mean they are killing you as a human being in Gaza, I don't want you only to go and to support me as a Gazan or Palestinian.
“I want you to support yourself in Gaza, your humanity in Gaza, because we are all joining this world.
“We all should care about our world and we should care about each other as human beings.”
From Ground Zero has been widely well-received internationally as it was short-listed for an Oscar and has been shown across hundreds of cinemas in the US.
Masharawi explained the difficulties in logistics of trying to organise and liaise with 22 filmmakers across Palestine for the film.
He said that they faced a number of hardships, like finding power supplies to charge film equipment, along with the filmmakers having the basic needs to continue living, like having access to food and water.
There were also challenges with sorting technical aspects like syncing the audio, as he explained there is a “hum” in Gaza which needed to be prevalent and occurring in the film to truly reflect what it is like to live there.
Despite the hardships, Masharawi is proud of what all those involved have managed to achieve, as From Ground Zero shows that, despite being faced with extreme adversity, there is still hope and creativity amongst Palestinians.
“I want to show that during this very tough situation, people still dream about art, about cinema, about culture, it's very important for me,” Masharawi explained.
