From Ground Zero Review: Powerful Storytelling

In the anthology film From Ground Zero, Rashid Masharawi gathers 22 Palestinian directors to share moving stories of the situation in Gaza.

The collection doesn’t follow any particular narrative structure. Instead, it focuses on individual stories of about 3 to 6 minutes each. Some are documentary in nature, while others are fictional stories about real events occurring in the lives of these directors. What is consistent throughout the film is the desire for these directors to help us understand what is happening to them and their loved ones and their need to continue to create no matter their circumstances.

In the short film Sorry, Cinema, director Ahmed Hassouna explains his long-time desire to create a piece of fiction and see it on the big screen at a film festival. He realizes part of that dream when a work he created wins an award at a film festival, but because of the war in Gaza, he is unable to attend. He speaks about how, when he was working on the film, he wished for 48-hour days, but now he wishes for 12-hour days. 

In A School Day by director Ahmed Al Danaf, a young boy packs his school bag to visit the marker where his teacher was killed. In 24 Hours, Alaa Damo interviews a young man who survived three bombing attacks in a single day. Director Etimad Washa presents her unfinished short film Taxi Wanissa with a statement after explaining what she was hoping to do before she lost family members to a bombing. In Hell’s Heaven, shows us the story of a man who is sleeping without a blanket, so he finds a body bag to rest in.

All throughout From Ground Zero, we are confronted with stories about the pain and suffering of those in Palestine. But even in the midst of the agony, there are stories of hope and optimism. They offer a reminder that these are people who are clinging to life with the desire to rebuild what they have lost. 

In Everything is Fine, director Nidal Damo follows a stand-up comedian who continues to perform, even in the midst of the surrounding devastation. In her film No, director Hana Eleiwa goes in search of musicians who are filling their community with songs pointing to a brighter future. In Recycling, we see a woman using the finite resources that she has to care for her home and her family. Yes, the stories all still carry an element of darkness to them, but woven through that are a thread of resilience and an obvious desire to survive. 

The technical process of the films displayed in From Ground Zero range from an impressively high level in films like Charm to very beginner level work in Awakening. But the passion for storytelling, particularly using film as the medium, is obvious in every part of the anthology. 

One of the most effecting entries in From Ground Zero is Soft Skin. It is a stop motion animated story created by children in Gaza. They share about how their parents would write their children’s names on their bodies so that in case they were blown up, they could still be identified. The construction paper animation style is crude, but the emotion behind it is incredibly powerful, as a young girl recounts rubbing her name away because it gave her nightmares. 

It is difficult to approach this film strictly as a critic. The ongoing war in Palestine is a human rights nightmare and it is imperative that we not lose sight of that. From Ground Zero doesn’t offer solutions to what is happening in Gaza, but it amplifies the voices of those experiencing it, giving us eyes on the ground and hopefully a better understanding of what we may not understand. 

From Ground Zero, Palestine’s official submission for the 97th Academy Awards, will be released in US theatres on January 3, 2025.