FROM GROUND ZERO — Montreal Premiere with Special Guest Sundus Abdulhadi

Join us for the Montreal Premiere of FROM GROUND ZERO, an anthology of 22 short films by displaced Gaza filmmakers showcases diverse artistic expressions amidst genocide, from love to resistance.

2024 · 1h55m · France, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar

Arabic · English subs

ABOUT THE FILM

Through striking authorial engagements with allegory and creative actuality, these filmmakers’ testimonies of confinement under relentless bombardment and imposed famine expose audiences to fragments of their daily struggle to survive — and to do so with dignity.

Khamis Masharawi’s Soft Skin enters an animation workshop providing art therapy to children, many of whom are newly orphaned, as they reckon with their constant terror. In Nidal Damo’s Everything is Fine, a stand-up comedian prepares to perform at his favourite venue only to arrive at the aftermath of a recent massacre.

Also deeply resonant is Ahmed Hassouna’s Sorry Cinema, in which the experienced filmmaker sifts through what remains of his relationship to the art form. These are only a snapshot of the stories shared. Chronicling the lives of people too often discussed in reference to numbers and refugee camps, From Ground Zero is an extraordinary time capsule, an urgent response to an ongoing catastrophe, and an artist’s call to bear witness.

The film is made up of 22 short films, including documentaries, fiction, animation and experimental films about the current situation of the people of Gaza.

Admission: By donation (suggested: $5-$10)