With Hasan in Gaza Review: Experience Life Under Occupation

With Hasan in Gaza
(Germany/France/Palestine/Qatar, 105 min.)
Dir. Kamal Aljiafari
Programme: Wavelengths (North American premiere)

 

The power of durational cinema comes full force in With Hasan in Gaza. The observational feat by Kamal Aljiafari gives a moving portrait of life in Gaza that’s at once both the most simple and complex film yet about the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Quotidian vignettes capture the escalating violence as Aljiafari visits Gaza in search of a friend he met in prison. Views of a beautiful city yield to a scarred cityscape in which death and violence become gradually normalized, like the dropping of the temperature as days go from summer to fall to winter. Life simply shouldn’t be like this for anyone.

Aljiafari captures life in the occupied territories from the backseat of a taxi. His driver, Hasan, serves as a trusty guide. Hasan points out points of interest and marks the invisible lines where refugee camps house displaced Palestinians. The camera holds like a travelogue, cutting only as an ellipsis. The views get the scope of beauty and tragedy living side by side. The camps grow larger with subsequent visits, while the streets and traffic become scarcer. People come and go as Hasan taxis fellow Gazans getting from point A to B. Aljiafari goes along for the ride and patiently observes life in a city in which mobility proves increasingly difficult.

Other vignettes step out from the back seat to observe the devastation caused by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Hasan takes his passenger to sites where shells destroyed homes and displaced families. A baby’s basket protrudes from the rubble, while tents blow vacantly in the wind, still affixed as temporary shelters amid the chunks of concrete and twisted wires. The IDF’s presence looms large from the nearby perimeter. Aljiafari films cautiously as the camera becomes a point of contention. But he keeps rolling, observing what it means to live under occupation as workers follow marching orders from soldiers. Another family embraces the camera’s presence and asks Aljiafari to get shots of their home supported by sand bags after weathering a bomb.

The driver later takes the director to an apartment for a high angle shot of the exchanges between Palestinians and the IDF. Hasan provides context for the fire. He lives the violence daily, and can by now distinguish IDF shells from ammunition fired by Palestinians using sound alone. Aljiafari holds his camera at the empty frame and makes the most of this window into the occupation.

These observations let audiences bear witness to the daily lives of Palestinians. Besides images of occupation, With Hasan in Gaza observes how life goes on. Aljiafari offers scenes of domestic life: parties, shoppers at market. He takes particular interest in children, too, who try their best to find a sense of normalcy. They all love the camera and gather round, asking Aljiafari to take their picture. All the while, he films them as they pose awaiting the shutter. It’s nice to see so many smiles amid a moment of levity.

These images also serve a double meaning. Besides offering vignettes of daily life, these observational shots provide evidence to counter narratives perpetuated about Gaza. The sights that Aljiafari captures are generally mundane. Not much happens in With Hasan in Gaza, but that’s the point. The film shows a peaceful people on the defensive, and the longitudinal nature of the production observes the occupation closing in. Walls, fences, and settlements encroach on Gaza, while refugee camps grow and neighbourhoods vacate. As the journey goes on, it also becomes increasingly clear that Aljiafari probably isn’t meeting his friend. The Waiting for Godot aspect becomes tragic, especially as one feels the prospects of a successful encounter dwindle. But as the scenes unfold, all one can do is hold out hope.

With Hasan in Gaza screens at TIFF 2025.

Get more coverage from this year’s festival here.

 

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