Gaza Film Festival in NY - Case Study Example

Gaza Film Festival in New York in The King Juan Carlos of Spain Centre Auditorium on 53 Washington Square south was the venue of the 2014 Gaza film festivals in New York. The University of New York’s Hagop Kevorkian Centre for Near East Studies was the center that represented these films free to the public as part of the Visual Culture Series of the Fall of 2014 from the management of the university. The two-day festival had five films that featured. These included “Tears of Gaza” and “Flying Paper” on the first day while “Strawberry Fields," “Gaza: another kind of tears” and “Where Should the Birds Fly” were aired on the last day of the festival. The festival was instrumental in displaying the reality of Gaza post-conflict with the Israeli military (NYU, 1). The films that were featured were diverse enough in their presentation but failed to display critical element of the life of the children and families living in Gaza after experiencing recurring conflict and devastation. “Tears of Gaza” was shown on the first day of the festivals on the September 5th from 5 pm. A documentary covers the disturbing and devastating effects of the bombing of Gaza around the period of 2008 and 2009 by the military of Israeli. The film is directed by Vibeke Lokkeberg as a record of the occurrences during and after the devastating war as captured by several camera operators forms the Palestinian media. The epitome focus of the film is the civilian population that was adversely affected by the attacks of the military of Israeli. The film assumes that the target of the Israeli weaponry was, in fact, the civilian population and not the government of Gaza. The film however fails to point out factor that led to attacks that adversely affected civilian population. Some of these aspects include Hamas having their rocket launchers next to schools and hospitals to use them as shield and cover against international policies that exclude military strike that is directed on the civilians (Wahad, 1). “Flying paper” was the second film that was featured in this year’s Gaza film festival in New York. The film was shown on September 5 from 6.30 pm. Sawhney Nitin and Hill Roger direct this film. It is a record of an inspiring story that focuses on the children of Gaza following the footsteps of one child called Musa and a journalist, Abber form a refugee camp in Jabal. Musa is depicted as a kite maker with charisma from Seifa village. These two create a movement where they recruit other thousands of children from Gaza to make and fly the most kites ever flown, therefore, breaking the Guinness world record (Sawhney and Hill, 1). It carries the moral lesson of the steps that are needed to live past the effects of the war. The film however inadequately covers the spirit of the children even as they make these kites. Other elements that would have been more inspiring would have included coverage of these children with messages of hope on their kites for example. “Strawberry Fields” was the third film that featured in the Gaza film festival this year showing from 1 pm on the 6th of September. The film is directed by Heller Ayelet. This film centers on the occupational aspect of the Israeli population. It displays the daily crisis and challenges those farmers of strawberry in Palestine face in Gaza at Beit Lahiya. The film is a clear demonstration of the suffering and loss that these Palestinian farmers have had to encounter because of the conflict of Hamas and Israel from the period of May 2005 to April 2006. It was a documentary that did inspire immense study into the effects of war on agriculture and the future of the nation’s food basket (Jeddah, 1). “Gaza: another kind of tears” was the fourth film in the festival that showed on the second day. It was directed by Shehada Salam Abdel. This story tells how a wall separated a family for the last four years. The story features one father Abu Maher, who together with a part of his family lived in the Jewish settlement of the Al-Mawasi side of the wall, while Maher and Hussein, his sons, lived in Khan-Jounes on the other side of the wall. Two parts groups of the same family lived about three kilometers away but could not see each other. Perhaps this was the most moving film that depicted how relationships are torn at the core of society by decision that are made by governments (Wahad, 1). The last film that featured in the Gaza film festivals this year was “Where should the birds fly” as directed by Qishta Fida. The film is reputed to be the first that is a depiction of the life in Gaza following the blockade and siege of Israeli. The film tells a story that features two young women who survived the Israeli Operation Cast Lead. Samouni Mona who is currently twelve years old together with the director of the film use the film to demonstrate the current spirit of bitterness and the future that awaits Palestinians. This film centers on the impact that the Palestinian population has had to withstand following sanctions and warfare from Israeli military. A look at the life that children have had to live in Gaza is devastating enough to read. The Gaza film festival was instrumental in displaying the conditions both economically and socially that families and children in Gaza face. The reality of the matter is far worse than it is represented. According to the report of UNICEF on August 2014, about 469 children had been killed from the airstrikes that were carried out by Israeli military that affected civilian population (Salem 1). The damage of the war has led to over 18000 housing units being destroyed and more than 370000 children in need of psychological care. Worse stories have been aired in the course of the fight of Gaza and Israeli (Wahad, 1). In 2012, UNICEF conducted a study after the Operation Pillar of Defense and found out that the mental effect of the war at that time was devastating. The results indicated that 91 percent of children in Gaza had sleeping disturbance after the war, 85 percent radicle appetite changes, 97 percent felt insecure, 37 percent reported feelings of guilt and over 82 percent in constant fear of death. These effects were fairly depicted in “Tears of Gaza." The media personnel may still have to follow the requirements of the ethics of journalism in filming, but it is also their role to display the truth (Thabet et al., 1). Statistics does reveal that children as young as six years living in Gaza have had the terror of being exposed to three wars between the Israeli and Hamas. The Gaza film festival tried to look into some of the issues that these children face inadequately (Marszal, 1). The issue of mental stress and emotional stress that Gaza children have had to endure was poorly captured in the festival films shown this year. The inclusion of “Gaza: another kind of tears” was an attempt to display the brokenness, but not adequately to warrant change. It is clear from the analysis of the films that were featured that the festivals advocate lasting peace between these two ever-warring governments. The inclusion of the film “Flying paper” in the festival was very instrumental in communicating the message and the attitude that Gaza children should adopt. It has been argued that a war like this makes a new breed of enemies for both camps. If children are brought up not knowing the sanctity of life and being unable to enjoy the parental guidance that is needed for development, then these children grow knowing that killing parents and children alike is acceptable. It was encouraging that the festival featured a film where instead of these wounded children remaining in their despondency, they rise above the challenge to breaks the heights of world record. Unfortunately, the festival organizers did not do enough to increase the attendance to the festival. The fact that the films were shown free was not enough an incentive to warrant attendance. The non-availability of the films after the show with mostly trailers available was also a setback to the festivals. Having a central theme with inclusion of similar films from various backgrounds would have made the purpose of the festival more appealing. Works cited Jeddah. “Gaza Film Festival Rolls in New York | Life | Saudi Gazette.” Saudi Gazette. N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. Marszal, Andrew. “The Children Killed in Gaza during 50 Days of Conflict.” 26 Aug. 2014. www.telegraph.co.uk. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. NYU. “GAZA FILM FESTIVAL , Kevorkian Center | NYU.” N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. Salem, Mohammed. “469 Gaza Children Killed, over 370,000 Need ‘psychosocial Aid’ – UNICEF.” N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. Sawhney, Nitin, and Roger Hill. “Flying Paper: A Documentary Film about Gaza » Film Screenings and Awards.” Flying Paper: N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. Thabet, A. A. et al. “Death Anxiety, PTSD, Trauma, Grief, and Mental Health of Palestinians Victims of War on Gaza.” Health Care Current Reviews 1.112 (2013): 2. Print. Wahad, Bayan Abdel. “How Israel Targeted the Children of Gaza.” Global Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. Read More