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Geopolitics · Middle East

Palestinian women screen films as Gaza festival launches cinema academy

Palestinian women filmmakers screened five documentaries at the second Gaza International Women’s Film Festival in al-Bureij. The festival also launched the Gaza Cinema Academy, while its programme includes 73 films from 24 countries.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 3 outlets · 1 article captured only in partHow it's made

View timeline · 9 entries
3 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 1 · C 0 · R 0 · 2 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Palestine
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • The festival launched the Gaza Cinema Academy (per nationalheraldindia.com, Al Jazeera).
  • A filmmaking diploma programme launched in March and brought together 25 young Palestinian women (per nationalheraldindia.com, newarab.com).
  • The festival runs from 26 to 31 October 2026, with screenings in tents where displaced Palestinians are living (per newarab.com).
  • Festival founder and president Ezzeddin Shalh said 25 women from Gaza had been selected and trained to make films about their lives and communities (per newarab.com, nationalheraldindia.com).

The brief

Palestinian women filmmakers screened five documentaries at the second Gaza International Women’s Film Festival in al-Bureij, where the event also launched the Gaza Cinema Academy. The films address experiences including hunger, displacement, disability, grief and resilience, and the festival’s programme features 73 films from 24 countries.

The screenings are part of a festival that runs through 31 October. The New Arab says the festival’s screenings are taking place in tents where displaced Palestinians are living, and describes its focus as Palestinian women’s stories, culture and creative work during Israel’s war. Its account gives the festival dates as 26 to 31 October 2026.

The academy’s launch accompanies a filmmaking diploma programme that began in March and brought together 25 young Palestinian women, according to National Herald India. The New Arab separately reports that 25 women from Gaza had already been selected and trained to make films about their lives and communities.

The sources describe similarly sized groups and filmmaking training, but do not establish whether they are the same cohort. One of the documentaries is A Sack of Flour, an 11-minute film by emerging filmmaker Mona Abu Qass. Abu Qass told Al Jazeera that the film grew from a personal experience and a true story.

She described its subject as shaped by daily realities that include bombardment, destruction, siege, hunger and loss. The festival’s broader scale contrasts with the intimate focus of the five documentaries highlighted in the National Herald India account: the full programme includes films from 24 countries, while the screened works centre Palestinian women’s experiences.

The New Arab quotes festival founder and president Ezzeddin Shalh saying the selection was intended to reflect the festival’s identity and message. He also said the event sought to show that Palestinians could continue creating while living in tents and under pressure and pain.

The festival was first held in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, from 26 to 31 October 2025, coinciding with Palestinian Women’s National Day, The New Arab reports. This year’s event brings screenings to displaced Palestinians’ tents, linking the festival’s venue with the displacement that appears among the films’ themes.

National Herald India also cites an Al Jazeera figure of more than 74,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and describes extensive destruction across Gaza. That toll is attributed to Al Jazeera in the report; it is broader context for the films rather than a casualty count tied to the festival or the screenings.

Why it matters

  • Displaced Palestinians living in tents are the immediate audience and bear the concrete effects of displacement; the New Arab says festival screenings are being held in their tents.
  • Young Palestinian women are the filmmakers in focus: a diploma programme brought together 25, while the New Arab says 25 women from Gaza had been selected and trained to make films about their communities.
  • The five documentaries bring hunger, displacement, disability, grief and resilience into a festival programme of 73 films from 24 countries.
  • The Gaza Cinema Academy’s launch adds a named training institution to a festival already associated with a filmmaking diploma programme.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Gaza Cinema Academy develops training opportunities beyond the diploma programme launched in March.
  • Whether the 25 women from Gaza selected and trained, as described by the festival founder, produce further films about their lives and communities.
  • How the festival’s programme of 73 films from 24 countries continues through 31 October.
  • Whether screenings in displaced Palestinians’ tents continue during the festival’s stated run from 26 to 31 October 2026.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 1 Left · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 67% · Middle East 33%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
0 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: Middle East
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 2 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • National Herald India foregrounds five documentaries, the Gaza Cinema Academy and the films’ themes; The New Arab emphasizes screenings in displaced Palestinians’ tents and the festival’s cultural purpose.
  • The figure of more than 74,000 Palestinians killed is attributed by National Herald India to Al Jazeera, rather than presented as a festival-related count.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Ezzeddin Shalh said the film selection was intended to reflect the festival’s identity and message.
  • Mona Abu Qass told Al Jazeera that A Sack of Flour originated in a personal experience and a true story.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not give attendance figures, the names or individual subjects of the other four documentaries, or details of the Gaza Cinema Academy’s curriculum.
  • The reports do not establish whether the 25 women in the diploma programme and the 25 women selected and trained by the festival are the same group.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Britain issued the Balfour Declaration on 2 November 1917, expressing support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. More than 700,000 Palestinians were displaced during the war surrounding Israel’s establishment.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Israel withdrew its settlers and permanent ground forces from Gaza in 2005, while retaining control over important aspects of access to the territory.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Hamas took control of Gaza after fighting with Fatah, and Israel and Egypt imposed restrictions on movement into and out of the territory.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led attackers killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. In March 2026, a filmmaking diploma programme brought together 25 young Palestinian women in Gaza, providing the immediate institutional background for the Gaza Cinema Academy.
    Background · from our historical context
  9. ScheduledThe festival runs from 26 to 31 October 2026, with screenings in tents where displaced Palestinians are living.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:newarab.com

How we got here

In March 2026, a filmmaking diploma programme brought together 25 young Palestinian women in Gaza, providing the immediate institutional background for the Gaza Cinema Academy. The programme’s participants were selected and trained to make films about their lives and communities, according to festival founder Ezzeddin Shalh.

Israel withdrew its settlers and permanent ground forces from Gaza in 2005, while retaining control over important aspects of access to the territory. After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and took control of Gaza in 2007 following fighting with Fatah, Israel and Egypt imposed restrictions on movement into and out of the Strip.

Original sources

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