Palestine’s History on Cinema—Attacks on Gaza Recorded by Citizen Journalists: 2008-09 & 2023-24.
Uno—Sat, 1/11 @16:00 (max 20 ppl) & Okayama—Mon, 1/13 @13:00 (max 25 ppl). Japan Premiere!
Screened with: Where Should the Birds Fly (61 min)
Camera and Storytelling by: Ahmad Ghunaim | Directed by: Yusuf Omar & Aurelia Driver | Produced by: Seen.TV | Gaza/South Africa | 2024 | 37min | color | Self-documentary | In English and Arabic w/ English subtitles and Japanese SDH subtitles | Ticket: 880 yen | A half of the proceeds will be donated to Seen TV, the group that the Director set up to support filmmakers in Gaza (the rest will support UPAF’s survival)
Japan Premiere!!! *Not recommended to children under 15.
“Ahmad Alive” is the harrowing story of Gazan travel vlogger, Ahmad Ghunaim. Ahmad never aspired to be a war correspondent, but after October 7th, with foreign journalists banned from Gaza, he needed to show the world what was happening. With just his phone, Ahmad captured Israel’s vicious war on Gaza. We follow him as his house is bombed and he becomes a refugee overnight. Fearing for his life, Ahmad is forced to live on the streets, sleeping in hospitals, cars, and tents.
Today, Ahmad is based in Johannesburg, empowering more Palestinians to share their stories.
Yusuf Omar, Co-founder of SEEN.TV, the film’s publisher, said: “The Western media coverage of Gaza has shattered many people’s trust of legacy media companies. We are really excited about the Gaza content at our film festival because it represents a necessary and new type of journalism. At SEEN.TV, our mission is to help people be seen and push the boundaries of immersive storytelling. The Ahmad Alive documentary is an example of mobile journalism at its very best. And we’ve helped thousands of other storytellers across Gaza and around the world to share their extraordinary experiences too.” SEEN.TV has worked with 50 Palestinian creators generating over one billion views since Oct 7, 2023.