Mohamed Jabaly, IDFA 2023
When everything is destroyed, all we have left are our stories.
About the film
The young Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly is visiting a film festival in Tromsø in 2014, when the borders to Gaza close. Stunned to be displaced, Mohamed is forced to confront what it means to be a stateless person - a label he resists. He finds himself stuck in the arctic winter. Little does he know that it will be seven years before he can see his family again. Life is Beautiful is an insider’s take on how to persevere and ultimately succeed in the struggle for self-determination.
Due to the continuing genocide in Gaza, there is greater interest in and solidarity for Palestinians in the west as political attitudes have shifted. In the award-winning film Life is Beautiful, Mohamed shows his love for his hometown through archival material and through video calls with his friends and families there. These scenes are even more powerful to experience now, since large parts of Gaza now lie in ruins, and Mohamed's friends and family are either in exile or struggling for survival. In this way, the film can deepen our understanding of the humanity that lies behind today's headlines, and can increase public engagement in the current situation.
Why host a film screening?
Cinema screenings of Life is Beautiful can provide an opportunity to bring your community together for a shared experience, that can be a catalyst for:
- opening up discussions about the current challenges facing Palestinians and Gazans;
- sharing information about what existing groups are already doing to support Palestinians and how to get involved;
- mobilising actions to stop the genocide, provide aid, and end the blockade;
- supporting more Palestinian stories through initiatives like the Palestinine Film Institute and Gaza Film Unit (both of which Mohamed is involved in);
- fundraising for particular causes (like supporting Mohamed's friends and family);
- creating an opportunity to come together in collective solidarity, grief and joy.
On a broader level, screenings of Life is Beautiful can also encourage audiences to:
- seek more knowledge about challenges stateless and displaced people face when seeking to establish their lives elsewhere (see the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion or the European Network on Statelessness for more resources)
- educate themselves about refugee rights and immigration policies in their own countries that erect barriers to success.
The film can also provide other young displaced or stateless with a sense of recognition and belonging, and perhaps empower or inspire them to share their own stories of perseverance.
Host a screening
Schools
The film is available for screenings at schools in Norway through The Cultural Schoolbag (Den kulturelle skolesekken / DKS). Please see https://skolekino.filmrommet.no/livet-er-vakkert for the accompanying educational guide.
If a DKS tour is not scheduled for your school or county, or you are based outside of Norway, please contact us in the form below.
Workplace, organization or higher education
If would like to set up a screening for your workplace, organization, local community, or higher education institution, please read our guide for hosting a screening and fill out the form at the bottom of this page.
Book a screening
If you would like to book Life is Beautiful for a screening, please fill out this contact form. Please include the title of the film, the preferred date and place of your screening, who the screening is for (workplace / organisation / school), and the estimated audience size.
