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From Ground Zero
View on Wikipedia| From Ground Zero | |
|---|---|
 International release poster | |
| Directed by | Aws Al-Banna Ahmed Al-Danf Basil Al-Maqousi Mustafa Al-Nabih Muhammad Alshareef Ala Ayob Bashar Al Balbisi Alaa Damo Awad Hana Ahmad Hassunah Mustafa Kallab Satoum Kareem Mahdi Karera Rabab Khamees Khamees Masharawi Wissam Moussa Tamer Najm Abu Hasna Nidaa Damo Nidal Mahmoud Reema Etimad Weshah Islam Al Zrieai |
| Produced by | Rashid Masharawi Laura Nikolov |
| Edited by | Pauline Eon Denis Le Paven |
| Music by | Naseer Shamma |
Production companies | Masharawi Fund For Films & Filmmakers in Gaza Coorigines Production Metafora Production Sharjah Art Foundation International Media Support Akka Films The Royal Film Commission Doha Film Institute |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes[1] |
| Countries | Palestine France Qatar Jordan United Arab Emirates |
| Language | Palestinian Arabic |
| Box office | $330,188[2][3] |
From Ground Zero (Arabic: قصص غير محكية من غزة من المسافة صفر, romanized: qiṣaṣ ghayr maḥkiyya min Ghazza min al-masāfa ṣifr, lit. 'Untold stories of Gaza's Ground Zero') is a 2024 anthology film directed by 22 different Palestinian directors.[4] The film is made up of 22 short films, including documentaries, fiction, animation and experimental films about the current situation of the people of the Gaza Strip in the midst of the Gaza war.[5]
From Ground Zero premiered at the 5th Amman International Film Festival on 5 July 2024[6] and had its North American premiere at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2024 as part of the TIFF Docs section.[7] It was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, making the December shortlist,[8][9] but was not nominated.
Contents
[edit]- "Selfie", Directed by Reema Mahmoud
- "No Signal", Directed by Muhammad Alshareef
- "Sorry Cinema", Directed by Ahmad Hassouna
- "Flash Back", Directed by Islam Al Zrieai
- "Echo", Directed by Mustafa Kallab
- "Everything Is Fine", Directed by Nidal Damo
- "Soft Skin", Directed by Khamees Masharawi
- "The Teacher", Directed by Tamer Najm
- "Charm", Directed by Bashar Al-Balbeisi
- "A School Day", Directed by Ahmed Al-Danf
- "Overburden", Directed by Ala’a Ayob
- "Hell’s Heaven", Directed by Kareem Satoum
- "24 Hours", Directed by Alaa Damo
- "Jad and Natalie", Directed by Aws Al-Banna
- "Recycling", Directed by Rabab Khamees
- "Taxi Waneesa", Directed by E’temad Weshah
- "Offerings", Directed by Mustafa Al-Nabih
- "No", Directed by Hana Awad
- "Farah and Mirayim", Directed by Wissam Moussa
- "Fragments", Directed by Basil Al-Maqousi
- "Out of Frame", Directed by Nidaa Abu Hasna
- "Awakening", Directed by Mahdi Karirah
Development and production
[edit]After the start of the Gaza war, film director Rashid Masharawi founded the Masharawi Fund for Cinema and Filmmakers in Gaza with the purpose of supporting young Palestinian filmmakers to express themselves and tell their stories through cinema.[10] Masharawi supported the production and post-production of the 22 short films that make up From Ground Zero filmed in different parts of the Gaza Strip at the end of 2023.[11]
Release
[edit]The film was scheduled to have its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, but was pulled by organizers on "political grounds".[12] In response, Masharawi held a screening via projection outside the festival grounds in protest.[13] It had its official world premiere on July 5, 2024, at the 5th Amman International Film Festival,[14] then screened in mid-July 2024 at the 70th Taormina Film Festival,[15] on September 9, 2024, at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival[16] and on September 28, 2024, at the 17th Toronto Palestine Film Festival.[17]
Critical response
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads: "An eclectic collection of short films that capture both the joy and pain of a people persevering through wartime, From Ground Zero has a cumulative emotional impact that proves unforgettable."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19]
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of four stars, praising it as a "staggering achievement" not just for being completed but also for expressing that "after a catastrophe, art is not only still possible but necessary". He stated that "We don't always understand the connections between people within individual stories and have to intuit them.... Rather than being confusing, this has a universalizing effect. We feel it could happen to us, too, or that it is happening to us, thanks to the empathy machine aspect of cinema storytelling." Seitz concluded that "Even amid so much murder and destruction, the urge to create abides. For all its horror and sadness, this is one of the most hopeful films I've ever seen."[20]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "From Ground Zero (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. July 30, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
- ^ "From Ground Zero". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
- ^ "From Ground Zero – Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 28 November 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
- ^ Bedirian, Razmig. "From Ground Zero: A moving collection of 22 short films made by Gazan filmmakers". The National. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "Films from Gaza in a World Premiere at the Amman International Film Festival". Amman International Film Festival. 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "Palestinian stories take centre stage at Amman Film Festival – Amman International Film Festival". 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy. "TIFF Docs line-up includes Edna O'Brien, Adam Kinzinger profiles". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "Le long métrage palestinien " Ground Zero " représentera la Palestine à la 97e édition des Oscars". AL24 News (in French). August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Tartaglione, Nancy; Wise, Damon (2025-01-04). "Oscars: International Feature Shortlist Includes Firsts For Latvia & Thailand; Audiard's 'Emilia Pérez' & Walter Salles' 'I'm Still Here' Among Expected Pics In The Cut". Deadline. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ "Palestinian filmmaker features collection". ifilm-آیفیلم. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Bleasdale, John (2024-07-16). "Palestinian Director Rashid Masharawi on Producing 22 Short Films in Gaza During the War". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (2024-12-30). "Michael Moore Boards Palestinian Oscar Entry 'From Ground Zero' as Executive Producer: 'It's an Honor to Stand in Solidarity' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
- ^ Iraqi, Amjad (2024-07-02). "'Film was the best way to convey our art amid the suffering in Gaza'". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "From Ground Zero - Spotlight". Amman International Film Festival. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Goldbart, Max (2024-06-28). "Taormina Film Fest Unveils 2024 Lineup, With 'Saint Clare' Set To Open Plus Movies Starring Nicolas Cage, Daisy Edgar-Jones". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "From Ground Zero". TIFF. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "From Ground Zero". Toronto Palestine Film Festival. 2024-09-28. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "From Ground Zero". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
- ^ "From Ground Zero". Metacritic. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
- ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (2025-01-04). "From Ground Zero movie review (2025)". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
