‘All That's Left of You' Director Says Recognition of Suffering Is One Way to Heal Gaza
The war between Israel and Hamas ravaging Gaza over the past year has put Palestine back in the global spotlight — and 'All That's Left of You' is director Cherien Dabis' effort to put those months of loss and violence into context.
Long before the Hamas attacks against Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, 2023, Dabis had started work on 'All That's Left of You,' a film that opens with a Palestinian teen confronting Israeli soldiers and then working back through the events that led to that moment across decades and a generation through the eyes of her mother.
Dabis recounted one of her most haunting memories growing up as the daughter of a West Bank refugee, traveling between there and Jordan and requiring foreign citizenship just to see their family. At the age of eight, her entire family was forced to be strip searched by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint, leading to a tense confrontation between her father and the soldiers.
'I was just convinced they were going to kill him,' she told TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman while sitting at TheWrap's Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt. She went on to explain that she wanted to create a story about the Palestinian struggle through the years.
'There were stories from before I was born, from 1948 from 1967, and I always wondered why people didn't know the Palestinian perspective of what happened to us and how that impacted us over generations,' she said. 'I just really wanted to tell that story so that … people could better understand the Palestinian perspective.'
The teen's mother in the film is played by Maria Zreik, who is also Palestinian. In conversation with TheWrap at Sundance, she recounted learning about surviving hardship from her maternal grandmother, who was a Holocaust survivor, and her paternal grandparents, who initially fled Palestine during the start of the Nakba in 1948. Today, she still has family that lives in Galilee.
'I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Palestinian who didn't see themselves in this film in some way, because it really is our collective story,' she said. 'But I think also the film really speaks to larger themes of how we can overcome tragedy and personal loss.'
Dabis and Zreik's film comes out at Sundance just a week after a cease-fire agreement came into effect in Gaza, with Hamas beginning to release Israeli hostages. With so many scars lingering from the Oct. 7 attacks and the subsequent bloodshed in Gaza, Dabis hopes that people who see 'All That's Left of You' will see that 'recognition of suffering is one way to heal.'
'There's been so much denial of what happened to Palestinians in 1948 and … I think that that perspective is incredibly damaging and dangerous,' she said. 'There's this passage of this trauma, which the movie shows from one generation to another that I think we need to recognize and look at so that we can then do something about it.'
Watch Dabis and Zreik's full interview in the video above.
The post 'All That's Left of You' Director Says Recognition of Suffering Is One Way to Heal Gaza | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
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Celebs Share Dumb Reasons They Were Rejected For A Role
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Dawn French apologises for ‘Oct 7 attacks' video
Dawn French has apologised 'unreservedly' after she posted a 'one-sided' video in which she appeared to dismiss the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 2023. The 67-year-old comedian and actress was accused of belittling the attacks in a clip she posted on social media in which she said the murder of 1,200 people was 'a bad thing'. In the video, posted on X on May 5, she mimicked apparent defences of Israel's huge military campaign in Gaza and was accused of appearing to belittle the Hamas-led murders of 1,200 people and adopting a 'mocking' tone. On Saturday, she removed that video and issued an apology, adding that she was 'sorry' her 'disgust at Hamas didn't figure'. The message, also on X, said: 'Ok, it's important to address this. I posted a video in the style I've been using for social media in an effort to convey an important point. I clumsily used a mocking tone. 'My intention was NEVER to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on Oct 7 2023 and what continues to unfold from that brutal, unthinkable, unforgivable, savage attack.' She said her 'heart broke' for the innocent people 'killed, tortured, r@aped [sic] and kidnapped', adding that it was 'appalling' that hostages were still being held. She insisted that her 'intention was to mock and point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leaders on ALL sides of this attricious [sic] war, who have continued to behave like the worst, dangerous, sickening bullies and seem to relish the tyrannical and childish one-upmanship of violence.' She added she was 'feeling increasingly helpless and hopeless as we witness the carnage and destruction worsen', adding that she was 'haunted … day and night ' by 'images of starving children.' The Vicar of Dibley actress wrote: 'History has taught us never to stand by and allow this kind of inhumane violence to be wrought on anyone, especially innocent children. 'I have felt my silence is complicit or even somehow sanctioning. So in my small way, I wanted to voice my desire to say NO – to both sides – to any further violence. 'I hope you will understand my intention was not to offend, but clearly I have. For which I am sorry and I have removed the video.' She was accused of adopting a baby-like face in the original 40-second video, in which she filmed herself saying: 'Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no.' She went on, imitating someone defending Israel's actions in Gaza, then replying to them: ''Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us...' Yeah, but no. 'But we want that land and there's a lot of history…' No. 'These people are not even people, are they really?' No.' The video was viewed more than half a million times in the 24 hours after it was posted. Credit: X/@Dawn_French Tracy-Ann Oberman, an actress who has appeared in numerous West End shows, accused the comedian of adopting a 'mocking' tone. Lee Kern, a comedy writer and self-described 'champion of Jewish rights', wrote: 'What you sneeringly mock as a 'bad thing' included the grieving children I met in hospital whose friends and family had been murdered, kidnapped and raped and who themselves were coming to terms with their own life-altering injuries. 'It also includes the 1,200 people murdered and tortured on October 7… You proactively broadcast – with misplaced pride – a wicked glee in your mockery and dismissal of Jewish suffering, pain and death.' Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's terrorist attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. There are 56 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel was criticised by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, for its recent 'appalling' military action. He described the conduct of Benjamin Netanyahu's government as 'intolerable' following claims that more than 50,000 people, including many women and children, had been killed by Israeli forces. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
