From Ground Zero
When the war began in Gaza, Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi kicked off a project for fellow artists to present their own perspectives in a short film of 3 to 6 minutes. Twenty-two were vetted for the anthology film that also became Palestine's shortlisted submission for the 2025 International Oscar. The voices are coming "From Ground Zero."
Laura's Review: B+
The resulting films range from personal diaries to recreations of actual events to documentation of day-to-day hardships to an animation. They can be difficult to watch, especially when one considers what has transpired since they were made, as scenes of the devastation shared within are already difficult to fathom. And yet there is even one film whose maker, Hana Eleiwa, rejects all the ideas given to her because she wants to make something that projects joy, love and life, turning her short, "No," into an upbeat music video.
The filmmakers frequently turn their lens toward the sea, Reema Mahmoud narrating the letter she is writing, describing all she has endured before rolling it up, putting it in a bottle and tossing it into the waves. In another, a man sits overlooking the ocean as he directs his panicked wife towards a friend's house on his phone, his peaceful surroundings contrasted with what we can only imagine are hers. Cats also show up numerous times, a young girl who blocks out the war with music on her headphones dancing on a rooftop with her fluffy white companion. A woman who returns to find her home in better shape than she'd expected also has a joyful reunion with her cat while in 'Everything Is Fine,' stand-up comedian Nidal Damo is introduced feeding strays. Donkeys are featured in 'Taxi Wanissa,' but Etimad Washah has to step in and tell us the ending of her film, the deaths of her brother and her children throwing her into too deep of a depression to finish it.
Some of the most impactful films feature the day-to-day difficulties of living through this war. Rabab Khamis' 'Recycling' shows us how one woman uses one bucket of water - first for her and her little girl to drink from, then to bath the girl, wash clothes, wash dishes, water a few plants and finally to flush a toilet. Tamer Nijim's 'The Teacher' follows a man spending an entire day not getting water, not getting bread and failing to get his phone charged. Then there is the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction entry which takes place in '24 Hours' in which we see one young man recount how he was under attack, went to a hospital for an eye injury to be treated, then returned home only to have it be bombed, collapsing on top of him. He is rescued but loses family members and goes to an uncle's house which is also bombed and collapses and while he lives a third time that day, even more family, including children, are lost.
Artists reflect on their own art in shorts like 'Sorry, Cinema' and 'Out of Frame,' but one of the most amazing films shows us a woman teaching youngsters how to make an animation, using stills and camera movement in Khamis Masharawi's 'Soft Skin.' But while watching the creative process in this environment is hopeful, the children's animation, about how their mothers write their names on their limbs so they may be identified if they are blown to pieces, is anything but.
'Hell's Haven' finds Karim Satoum wondering why he's awakened in a body bag, an exploration with weighty ideas. Perhaps the most surreal entry is the last, 'Awakening,' where the father in a family of puppets regains the memory he lost in a 2014 bombing during another in Gaza, then tries to convince his wife and son they'd be better off if they all lost theirs.
Like any anthology, some entries are stronger than others, but the cumulative effect of "From Ground Zero" is one of every human response to facing unimaginable hardships and horrors.
Robin's Review: B
Watermelon Pictures releases "From Ground Zero" in theaters across the country on 1/3/25.
