A documentary on Gaza will open the eighth edition of the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival tomorrow night at Doha Sheraton hotel.
Titled The Gaza Monologues, the film by Palestinian filmmaker Khalil El Muzayen talks about a play of the same title, where the youth from Gaza enact the stories of war and siege that they went through during the Israeli aggression from 2008 to 2009.
The emotionally charged play which is the subject of the film traces the personal experiences of the children of the Gaza War which took place between December 2008 to January 2009 and resulted to the death of at least 1,380 Palestinians among which 431 were children.
The 24-minute film competing under the Short Films category follows the writers of the play and records the training they went through for the play. It was produced by Ashtar Theatre responsible for the play and considered theatre of the oppressed in the region.
Khalil El Muzayen is a seasoned Palestinian film maker and trainer who has directed dozens of films most of which were documentaries.
The four-day festival will screen 168 films from 59 countries under Long, Medium, Short, New Horizon and Promising Films categories. Twenty-three films from 18 TV stations from various countries such as Palestine, Cuba, Russia, Turkey, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are also participating this year.
A 15-member jury from various nationalities has been formed to choose the films to receive the prestigious Al Jazeera Golden Award and special awards including the Al Jazeera Special Award, Public Liberties and Human Rights Award, Children and Family Award, Promising Film Award and New Horizon Award under short, medium and long film categories, which will be revealed on the awards night at the conclusion of the festival.
The Peninsula
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