Special Screening - Gazan Tales by Mahmoud Nabil Ahmed

This sensitive observational documentary (that wrapped production on the eve of October 7) is the result of a filmmakers’ workshop that took place in Gaza in 2023. Unique in its timing, the film sets out as a touching study on masculinity through four portraits of amusing characters who represent different ways of life in Gaza. However, it also unexpectedly doubles up as a time capsule; Gazan Tales is perhaps one of the last records of the Strip before the eruption of a war that Amnesty International has described as “genocidal”.

The film intimately follows its characters’ daily lives under siege as they navigate existential angst and survival through a culture of constant adaptation and endurance. They take comfort and find allies in music, animals, the beach, and each other.

This low budget production came into being through collective effort and presents a raw and unflinching celebration of life in the face of devastating violence. It screened at the 2024 Cairo International Film Festival and is being presented here for the first time to a Berlin audience.

This screening is part of the 16th ALFILM – Arab Film Festival Berlin.