Samouni Road

This film, part documentary, part animated dramatic recreation, tells the story of a Palestinian family living in Gaza City during and after the war in 2009. The family is shown re-building their homes and their lives in the devastation following the war, while the war itself is shown in black & white animated flashbacks. The film also includes archival drone footage of the war, which lends veracity to the animated sequences.

This is complex filmmaking, dealing with complex issues, yet it is ultimately a very simple human story of adversity and survival in an inescapable situation. Being told from the Palestinian point of view, no doubt there is a bias here, and many may vehemently disagree with the way the story is framed. That aside, it is hard not to feel deep sympathy for the family portrayed, who have experienced such loss, and question why this conflict never seems to end.

This film puts a very real human face on the civilians impacted by the conflict in Palestine, and provides a depth of understand not accessible via news reports. For that alone this is a valuable film.