Oscar-nominated filmmaker James Longley (Iraq in Fragments) shot this compelling documentary in 2001, but even though the Israeli occupation force has long since departed from the relatively tiny Gaza Strip (an area that is only 28 miles long and four miles wide), violence in the region continues unabated. At the time of the film's production, 1.2 million Palestinians lived in the Gaza Strip, with roughly one-third of the population in refugee camps, while 6,000 Israelis claimed 30% of the land for themselves. Many of the near-surreal sequences presented here could rival Buñuel or Fellini, with a touch of Costa-Gavras thrown in (most notably an astonishing scene on a tranquil beach that becomes polluted with automobiles, horse-drawn carts, and pedestrians following the Israeli blockade of a main road). No signs of the Palestinian Authority are anywhere to be seen; in fact, the only leadership present here is medical: the tireless doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and emergency medical technicians who face an endless stream of patients with an extraordinary variety of injuries (including a child who innocently retrieved an Israeli bomb left as a booby trap in a pair of boxing gloves). Of course, the Israeli side of the story is not presented here, and the film casually ignores a vital part of Palestine's history: Egypt's 1948 annexation of Gaza in violation of the United Nations partition of the region, which denied the Palestinians their own homeland. Still, this harrowing portrait of Palestinians struggling under the daily trials of the Israeli occupation is both potent and disturbing. DVD extras include audio commentary by Longley, a stills gallery, and a map of the Gaza Strip. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
Gaza Strip
(2002) 74 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. DVD: $24.99 ($150 w/PPR). Arab Film Distribution. Volume 22, Issue 4
Gaza Strip
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