Gaza’s women filmmakers turn pain into cinema as new academy launches

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported from al-Bureij in the Gaza Strip on the opening of the second Gaza International Women’s Film Festival, held on Monday in a destroyed hall in central Gaza. The event, organized under the slogan “Women Creating Life from Death,” also marked the launch of the Gaza Cinema Academy, a new initiative linked to a filmmaking diploma program developed with al-Quds Open University and accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

The festival screened five documentaries made by emerging Palestinian women filmmakers, including A Sack of Flour by Mona Abu Qass and Beyond Silence by Raghda al-Buhaisi. The films focus on wartime experiences in Gaza, including hunger, displacement, the destruction of homes and livelihoods, and the added hardship faced by people with disabilities. Other titles featured stories of an orphaned child, a filmmaker coping with family loss, and a mother grieving children killed in the war.

Festival organizers said the works aim to preserve personal testimony and turn lived pain into visual storytelling. Director Ezzedine Shallah described the films as a way to keep Gaza’s stories from being lost, while co-founder Rima Mahmoud said young women filmmakers need more technical, financial and distribution support. Co-founder Mai Masri said the academy hopes to help Palestinian women reach international festivals and educational platforms.

The festival runs through October 31 and includes 73 films from 24 countries. Al Jazeera also noted that Gaza’s film sector faces major obstacles from war damage, shortages of equipment, power and internet cuts, and the wider impact of Israel’s siege.