Who are some of the people walking up and down Tromsø's Sherpa stairs? 1203 steps carved into the mountain, each with a story to tell. A joint project from Eilif Bremer Landsend and Mohammed Jabaly, two filmmaking friends from Tromso, Norway and Gaza, Palestine, both cherished TIFF "regulars".
Life is Beautiful - Al Haya Helwa (93 min) Feature documentary
by Mohamed Jabaly
2023 Norway/Palestine
Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly insists on telling stories from his hometown Gaza sharing his own experiences and perspectives, not accepting the boundaries imposed by international politics and rigid bureaucracy. Stuck in the cold and dark arctic of Northern Norway, only able to connect to his family online, he manages to activate his own creativity and the support from his friends to keep up his motto LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
My Gaza Online (22 min) documentary
by Mohamed Jabaly
2020 Norway/Palestine
The film is based on online communication between Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly, his friends, and family in Gaza.
Living in exile wasn't a choice, since 2014, I've been in a distance from family. A choice that I didn't make, but I ended up living it, surrounded by challenges. The ongoing situation in Gaza and the level of depression that people face. Following news from distance wasn't easy. It's the only way to keep updated. Living the arctic-life in Norway made an impact on my life and the way of communication including all the news that I've been receiving from Gaza.
A raw, first-person account of the last war in Gaza in the summer of 2014. Mohamed Jabaly, a young man from Gaza City, joins an ambulance crew as war approaches, looking for his place in a country under siege, where at times there seems to be no foreseeable future. While thousands of things are published on the recurring violence in Gaza, the stories behind them remain hidden. Not this one.
