“No one can capture people’s dreams,” says Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Mashrawi.

The situation in Gaza, where 62-year-old Rashid Mashrawi was born and raised in the Shati refugee camp, has inspired the filmmaker to create from ground zeroA compilation of 22 short films chronicling the plight of Palestinians under siege for over a year.

from ground zero This month screened at the 12th Ajyal Film Festival in Doha and the Cairo International Film Festival, where Mashrawi’s latest directorial debut, passing dreamswas the title of the opening night. This film is gaining a lot of headlines all over the world. However, last month’s Dharamshala International Film Festival, dedicated to independent cinema, was denied “official permission” to screen the anthology. Earlier this year, the film was not screened at the 77th Cannes Film Festival as organizers wanted to keep politics out of the official selection. In protest, Mashrawi held a screening outside the festival site and attended the event wearing a Palestinian necktie. Sheet,

A scene from ‘From Ground Zero’.

Speaking aside from Ajyal, where from ground zero Was part of a special exhibition, Mashrawi asks: “Why was it canceled [at Dharamshala]“Did they watch it or just see its title before deciding that the film was not suitable for screening?” He quips: “Gandhism is over but it is still with us, not in India but elsewhere in the world (referring to the resistance and resilience of Palestinians fighting the never-ending occupation).”

Soon after the wave of Israeli attacks on Gaza began last October, Mashrawi, who lives between Ramallah and Paris, set up a fund to help filmmakers from the region tell their stories. “It was easy for me to convince young filmmakers to show the world what they are going through. However, it was not easy for them to follow my ideas,” he says, “people want to save their lives. They want food and electricity as they move from place to place as refugees inside Gaza. Masharawi admits that making movies was not a top priority for these young Gazans. But he claims stories can’t wait. Have to tell them.

voices among the debris

from ground zero Records the personal experiences of the filmmakers. It includes a variety of forms – narrative, documentary, cinematic experimentation, animation, video art and even stories told with puppets. “Every idea was welcome,” says Mashrawi. “Our resources were severely limited. We had to work with what we had and do something new.”

A scene from ‘From Ground Zero’.

The subjects the anthology film deals with reflect the diversity of the directors. These include painters, theater professionals, writers and filmmakers.

Mashrawi adds, “The selection was more focused on the stories than the personnel.” “I emphasized that we should tell untold stories in an artistic way.”

There is nothing more representative of the spirit of Palestine than this awakeningA film to which artist Mahdi Karira contributed. It literally came out of the wreckage. Karira’s house was bombed. All his puppets, equipment and colors were destroyed. They picked up things from the trash, made puppets, and made films. “This is resistance,” says Mashrawi. “Nobody can capture these people. They are fighting for their lives. They have a life. They are life.”

Not everyone who wanted to be a part of this project made the cut. “Many candidates were not selected. Some people couldn’t complete their films,” recalls Mashravi. “People sometimes want to complain and start angry political debates. Sure, it’s all in from ground zero But we are not saying anything directly. When you watch the film you will say that it is about genocide. I don’t need to say this. I don’t want to use television news methods. I would prefer to use purely cinematic means to convey my point.”

A scene from ‘Passing Dreams’.

Cinema as a tool

This is exactly what the veteran director has done in his latest, passing dreamsIt is a simple, gentle and non-confrontational ‘Palestinian road film’ about a 12-year-old boy in the Qalandiya refugee camp in East Jerusalem who sets out in search of his missing pigeon.

“The boy goes to Bethlehem and Jerusalem before reaching Haifa [where the original owner of the pigeon lives]” says Mashrawi. “The film is not about pigeons. It’s about the area. It is about the beauty of Palestine’s landscape, its problems, its history and the primacy of hope.

passing dreamsMashrawi revealed that it was filmed before 7 October last year in real locations – in a refugee camp, in Bethlehem, near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Despite the worsening situation in Gaza, the film was in post production and the producer-director soon became busy from ground zero,

Mashrawi, who has been making films for 40 years and is a role model for an entire generation of Palestinian directors, sees cinema as a tool of record and resistance. “Cinema is essential when you want to talk about history and memory,” he says. “The stories we tell enable us to assert our identity and protect our culture. “No one can capture people’s dreams and imagination.”

Her career is a testament to independence, defiance and assertion. “I never seek permission to make a film,” he says. “Asking for permission would be tantamount to legalizing occupation. this is my country. I shoot whenever and wherever I want. I know the authorities can create problems, but no matter what, this is my land.”

The author is a New Delhi-based film critic.