In the face of war, numbers presented in the media often overshadow the individual stories of those who endure it. News reports, driven by statistics, body counts, and horrid footage, obscure the human faces. From Ground Zero, a poignant anthology of 22 short films created by filmmakers from #Gaza, serves as a powerful counter-narrative, drawing viewers into the lived experiences of those caught in the crossfire.
A canvas for the displaced
From Ground Zero is the first project supported by the Masharawi Fund, founded in November 2023 by Gaza-born Palestinian director #Rashid Masharawi#. The idea was to offer displaced artists ‘a canvas’ for expressing personal stories.
The result is a collage of 22 films, varied in narrative and approach, ranging from three to six minutes. Each is an intimate portrait of grief, survival, and the struggle to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a place where most has been reduced to rubble. Through these personal stories, the viewer gets to see the nuances, pain, and resilience of life in Gaza right now. The emotional bond each short film creates makes a powerful antidote to any trace of compassion fatigue. The sum of them is an emotional illustration of what war does to the very core of life.
The experiences depicted in From Ground Zero are some that many or most of us will never face. But watching the films creates so much empathy and clarity. Structured as a two-part anthology, each film offers a glimpse into the impact of war on a personal level—not showing the explosions or the fatalities, but their disruptive, long-lasting effects. The power of cinema is reaching the viewer by conveying emotion and insight on the screen.
You may never know what it’s like to speak to your wife on the phone while she searches for shelter from falling bombs, but watching Echo (dir. Mostafa Kulab), you get a feeling of how that feels and of what that does to you – the long-lasting effect of such an experience. You may never have to rely on food being dropped from a plane, but the image of people gathering flour from the ground with their bare hands gives that reality an almost tangible dimension in Sorry Cinema (dir. Ahmed Hassouna). And it’s likely you’ve never considered having to write your children’s names on their bodies. But watching Soft Skin (Khamis Masharawi) makes you understand why mothers in Gaza do just that. These films etch themselves into you, ensuring that even if you have never and hopefully will never live such experiences, you will never forget that others did.
Through these personal stories, the viewer gets to see the nuances, pain, and resilience of life in Gaza right now.
Palestinian dignity
There’s an undeniable emotional weight to these films, yet a strong thread of strength runs through each narrative. The resilience of the people depicted surfaces in each of the films. The circumstances are extreme, and the hurt runs deep, but despite that, people don’t give up. And there is so much dignity and beauty to that.
In No (dir. Hana Eleiwa), the Gaza band Sol sings their most famous song, Raweq Wa Haddy (translated as Chill Down) sitting in a #refugee camp. The lyrics promise «great days coming back» and in that moment, as they smile and sing together, it seems a promise that they will. The scene, one of the many in these films portraying touching moments, captures both culture and humanity in those dire circumstances. The band sings for the children in the camp, and by bringing them hope, they maintain their own.
Impossible to ignore
From Ground Zero is not just a collage of films about the trauma of war—it is also a tribute to human resilience. The #trauma and the resilience cannot be separated. Together, these two elements—pain and strength—are a thread tying all these stories together into a poignant mosaic that leaves a lasting impact on the viewer and accomplishes something vital: it bridges the gap between us and the people in Gaza, making it impossible to ignore and feel for the human lives behind the headlines.
