Live music in the foyer with Imad Al Tamimi after the screening. Two short films will also be screened together with A State of Passion - Ahmad Alive (21 min) + Message (9 min).

After 43 horrific days working round the clock under constant bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza's Al Shifa and Al Ahli hospitals British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah emerged to find himself as a face of Palestinian resistance. With news footage of him pale and shell-shocked reverberating around the world he spoke of a catalogue of horrors from lacerated bodies to amputations without anesthetics orphaned children with no surviving family and the deliberate targeting of medics and hospital facilities.

This was Ghassan's sixth and most horrific Gaza "war". Why does he do it? Where does he find the strength to face it again and again? How does it impact his family? How do they process the risks he takes? The answer lies simply in their shared passion: Palestine a passion they articulate through their support of his perilous humanitarian work.

Filmmakers Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi close friends of the Abu Sittahs share that same passion. They were waiting anxiously for Ghassan to emerge from Gaza following a long and terrifying journey through the night to meet him in Amman. Determined to capture his raw emotions they began filming him the moment he arrived through the door. Following him to Beirut Amman London Kuwait and Dubai they and he explore their common State of Passion.

KORTFILMER / SHORT FILMS

Ahmad Alive (21 min, dokumentär, 2024, Eng subtitles)
“Ahmad Alive” började som en serie virala videor med palestiniern Ahmad Ghunaim, där han vänder kameran mot de fasansfulla verkligheterna i Israels krig mot Gaza. Med dessa videor som byggstenar skapas en rå och kraftfull film – berättelsen om en ung man som riskerar allt för att visa världen vad som händer i Gaza, med endast sin mobiltelefon.

Message (9 min, drama, 2024, Eng subtitles)
En beslutsam kvinnlig reporter i ett krigshärjat Gaza, som möter dåliga internetförhållanden, bestämmer sig för att ta alla sina minneskort till en kollega i nyhetsbyråns byggnad. Hon hoppas att han kan skicka iväg videorna. På vägen möter hon hinder.