GAZA A Story of Love and War is on cinema release from August 14 2024 [Certificate 12A]
In 2023, Balfour Project hosted the first season of Mike Joseph’s audio series, KEYS A Troubled Inheritance. Balfour Project now supports the cinema release of his filmed encounter with Gaza journalist Sami Abu Salem – GAZA A Story of Love and War.
Two journalists meet to share stories over a Zoom link. One is Welsh and unable to get into Gaza. The other is Palestinian and unable to get out. As they talk, a very personal history of the Palestinian Nakba is narrated, from the expulsions of 1948 to the killing streets and tent cities of 2024.
A generation ago the journalists’ mothers escaped two different catastrophes – the Holocaust in 1939-45 and the violent expulsion of Palestinians in 1948. We hear remarkable connections in the stories. Then their talk reaches a most unexpected question: Is coexistence possible?
Out of the ashes of war and genocide, this meeting becomes an exchange of impossible hopes.
Screenings
Builth Wells — Wyeside Arts Centre, September 3, 4, 5 — on Sep 4 plus Q+A with Mike Joseph and Mark Levene
London — Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley, September 8— plus Q+A with Mike Joseph and Tim Llewellyn
Cardigan — Theatr Mwldan, September 20, 21, 22, 26 — plus Q+A with Mike Joseph Sep 20, also with Plaid Cymru Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ben Lake MP Sep 22
Dublin — Irish Film Institute Documentary Festival 2024, September 25-29, online in Ireland, to be confirmed
Stroud — Stroud PSC at Stroud Brewery, October 15 — plus Q+A with Mike Joseph, to be confirmed
Cardiff — Chapter Arts Centre, October 20, —plus Q+A with Mike Joseph, to be confirmed
Tywyn — Magic Lantern, Oct/Nov — plus Q+A with Mike Joseph, to be confirmed
Bath — Bath Artists Studios, November 13, — plus discussion with film makers Lucy Lyon and Mike Joseph.
More venues to follow