During his visit to Norway in 2014, Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly got stranded after the border to Gaza was closed. Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza is Jabaly’s attempt to capture the beauty of his homeland with the help of friends and family with whom he has little contact.
The documentary had its world premiere at the 2023 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam where it won the IDFA Award for Best Directing. It was also screened at the 2024 Hot Docs International Film Festival, the Sydney Film Festival, and the Sheffield Doc Fest.
Release Date
Directed by Mohamed Jabaly, Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza opens in select US theaters on November 15, 2024 and on VOD on November 26, 2024.
Synopsis
Stuck in the arctic of Norway and refusing to accept the boundaries imposed by international politics and rigid bureaucracy, filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly insists on telling heartfelt stories from his hometown Gaza. Despite having only limited connection to his family abroad and support from his friends, he manages to channel his own creativity, adhering to his motto LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
“The question of life being beautiful speaks to what I want to see. This is a future not necessarily today or tomorrow, maybe in a month or a week,” said Jabaly on the relevance of the film’s title in an interview with POV Magazine. “This still goes to the motto of “life is beautiful” that I carried with me all the time, even while growing up in Gaza. It’s a motive for being hopeful and trying to mobilize our life’s struggle.”
Reviews
Barbara Goslawski in a POV Magazine review praised the documentary, writing, “While the film is a chronicle of Jabaly’s determination to both grow as an artist and to share stories of life in the Palestinian territory, Life Is Beautiful moves from a diary film to a statement on the idea of home as an unbreakable bond.”
Dennis Harvey in a Variety review also praised the documentary, writing, “Feel-good stories out of Gaza are not exactly plentiful at present, making ‘Life Is Beautiful’ something of an anomaly. Though the predicament depicted — Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly’s unplanned long exile due to closed borders and political shifts — is hardly upbeat in outline, his ebullient personality insists on emphasizing humor and warmth. “
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for ‘Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza.’