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Gaza Open-air Cinema a Breath of Fresh Air for Palestinians

Palestinian children watch a film at a pop-up open-air cinema in Gaza city - AFP
Palestinian children watch a film at a pop-up open-air cinema in Gaza city - AFP
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Gaza Open-air Cinema a Breath of Fresh Air for Palestinians

Palestinian children watch a film at a pop-up open-air cinema in Gaza city - AFP
Palestinian children watch a film at a pop-up open-air cinema in Gaza city - AFP

Gaza residents took their seats in front of a large projector screen set up on a sandy beach, a rare event in the blockaded enclave that has no operating cinemas.

Over two weeks in summer, the "Cinema of the Sea" festival which ended Monday screened some 15 films, many of them with Palestinian actors or producers.

Providing a respite from the heat, the waterfront "is the only outlet for the residents" in the impoverished territory, said Ali Muhanna, a theater director involved in the initiative.

Around 2.3 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007.

Sitting barefoot in a pink dress at the open-air cinema on Gaza City's beach, seven-year-old Salma Shamaleh was transfixed by the screen.

"I have never seen a TV this size," she told AFP as she watched "Ferdinand", an animated blockbuster that tells the story of a giant but soft-hearted black bull.

The first film screenings in Gaza date to the 1940s, with the opening of the Samer Cinema, whose building now houses a car dealership.

Cinemas were forced to close in the late 1980s during the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada. They reopened following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s but for years have largely been gathering dust.

Like across much of the eastern Mediterranean, Gazans have flocked to the seaside in recent weeks to escape soaring temperatures.

Shamaleh was thrilled by the cinematic experience. "Our house is nearby, I'll ask my mum for us to come every day," she said.

The festival's program featured "Farha", a Jordanian film which, through a young girl's perspective, depicts atrocities committed against Palestinians during the 1948 conflict that led to Israel's creation.

The hard-hitting film resonated with Mona Hanafi, 50, who watched it with her daughter and dozens of other spectators.

"The film is brilliant in addressing a realistic Palestinian story... The performance and directing are impressive," she said.

"Seeing the children and people watching the open cinema in Gaza made me happy," added Hanafi.

Another audience member, Hadeel Hajji, said she had "never seen anything like that in my life".

"I was with my family when I saw the screen from far away, so I came to watch," she told AFP.

"Cinema of the Sea" was organized by Al-Bahr Elna Cooperative cafe in partnership with the culture ministry.

The cooperative was established in 2020 by a group of artists, with start-up funding from Palestinian institutions. Since that initial cash dried up, the group has relied on donations.

For Muhanna, the cafe's founder, the festival has been an opportunity to show films which demonstrate how "Palestinians contributed to producing (cinema) and conveying the values of society".

Atef Askoul, head of the Hamas-appointed body responsible for approving public art events, said Gazans who suffer from miserable living conditions under the blockade have "the right to watch films and cinema".

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Varieties

Albatross Couple Shares Egg Duty in Captivating Low-drama Reality Show

Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
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Albatross Couple Shares Egg Duty in Captivating Low-drama Reality Show

Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)

It’s a reality show about a loving couple waiting to welcome their new arrival, watched by thousands of ardent fans. But the stars of Royal Cam, now in its 10th season, aren’t socialites or hopefuls in love but northern royal albatrosses — majestic New Zealand seabirds with 10-foot (3-meter) wingspans.
The 24-hour livestream of the birds’ breeding season at Taiaroa Head — a rugged headland on New Zealand’s South Island — was established to raise awareness of the vulnerable species, numbers of which have grown slowly over decades of painstaking conservation measures, The Associated Press reported.
Millions have watched the stream since it began in 2016.
“Before that, it was very difficult to follow an albatross’ life cycle because they’re only on land 15% of the time,” said Sharyn Broni, a Department of Conservation ranger who has worked with the birds for nearly three decades. “You’d have to travel a long way to see one.”
But Royal Cam's popularity exploded during the coronavirus pandemic. On a busy comments page hosted by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, devoted fans track the birds’ locations on an app, discuss significant moments and even create art inspired by the albatross.
Drama-free reality TV The show's premise is simple: Each season, conservation rangers select an albatross couple as that year’s stars. A camera on the remote headland follows the chosen birds as they lay and incubate an egg, before their chick hatches around February, grows to adult size, and finally takes flight.
Unlike human reality shows, drama is rare: Royal albatrosses usually mate for life. Rangers selecting the birds to follow each “season” avoid anything controversial: no first-time parents and no aggressive or grumpy personalities.
This year’s stars are RLK, a 12-year-old male, and GLG, a 14-year-old female, who have raised two chicks before. Their names are derived from the colors on bands that rangers attach to their legs.
“They’re a youngish pair, but not so young that they don’t know what they’re doing,” Broni said.
Action unfolds slowly, which for many fans is the joy of it. Clouds drift by, ships pass in the distance and the sun sets in glowing pinks and peaches. During January, incubation season, an albatross sits on an egg.
But regular watchers anticipate certain moments: About once every 10 days, the second bird in the pair returns from feeding at sea to relieve the parent looking after the nest. Other fan highlights include albatross crash landings, mating dances and the appearances of rangers or the feathered stars of previous seasons.
Fans become friends France Pillière, an artist who lives in Montreal, has never visited New Zealand. But during the pandemic she discovered Royal Cam, fell in love with the “mysterious” creatures, and became a daily viewer.
“You see the birds and all their adventures and their lives, struggling to raise their chicks,” she said.
Pillière stayed, too, for the global community of posters. Unlike much of the internet, the nearly 75,000 comments on the Royal Cam viewing page are uniformly encouraging and educational.
“We care about these people,” Pillière said of her fellow posters. “If one is on a flight to New Zealand, everyone is waiting to hear their comments.”
A conservation success story under threat The past two breeding seasons were the birds’ most successful ever, with 33 chicks each year. There are more than 60 breeding pairs at the colony — conservation measures began in 1937 with one pair.
Progress is unhurried because the northern royal albatross lives long and slowly; after their first flight, chicks stay at sea for 4 to 10 years — traveling up to 118,000 miles a year — then spend about three years choosing a mate. They live until around 40.
The New Zealand mainland colony — one of four sites — is home to 1% of the 17,000 birds worldwide. While breeding measures have proved a success, Broni said, the birds are more threatened than before by plastic pollution, fisheries and warming seas.
Pillière said the death of a chick from ingesting plastic in 2023 had prompted her to drastically reduce her household’s plastic use. The royal albatross has also crept into her work as a sculptor of animals.