After the final week of term, I had a few interviews left in mind to complete (UCL’s marxist society for instance), however, they were not entirely necessary, as I had many that covered the topic adequately already. I am dreading the rest of the editing process. I had a long list of collaborators and inspiration, and no idea where to begin cutting down on footage. I looked at options to do a cacophony of sounds, play several interviews at once, but wanted to give each and everyone a voice. I did not have a narrative yet, and hoped it would emerge in editing. So far, the style is inspired by guerilla resistance/protest films: for instance, filmmaker Sarah Maldoror's Sambizanga, which is also mainly about the importance of Resistance, no matter the scale (a wife looking for her imprisoned husband). It's the practice of filmmaking as a form of activism.
However, one thing is for sure now: my documentary has completely drifted from its initial week 3 premise. It went from scientific to love letter for resistance. At this point, the situation in Gaza had escalated into irreversibility. All the scientific arguments have been made. It is now up for humanity to prevail over its own cruel indifference. Over 85% of the population displaced, 1 out of every 100 Gazan killed, 1 out of every 10 journalists murdered. The story I had access to belongs on the fringes of relevance and importance. I couldn’t possibly not do it justice by attempting to force a certain narrative.
I did not know whether I should focus on the ribbons for Palestine action, specifically the UCL movements, or London unis as a whole. Things in the resistance groups here in London have been moving pretty quickly. The students set up an inter-uni Action for palestinian coalition, called LSAP, in order to organize bigger and more effective actions.
It is now almost 2024, and the world, the ‘international community’, have failed Palestinians in Gaza, they have failed humanity. They have failed to call for a ceasefire, and they have failed to put an end to the brutal murder of palestinian women and children, an end to the killing of palestinian fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, and innocent civilians. They have failed to put an end to collective punishment. They have failed to put an end to what many scholars are now calling a genocide.
However, despite all that has been happening I decided that the main focus will remain on university student voices. Hence, through Alex, I reached out to a suspended student at Soas. I did an interview with a committee from Student Justice for Palestine at UAL’s CSM, as well as more students from other universities who are part of the coalition to keep the documentary as true to the student experience with activism and resistance actions as possible. This documentary is about the importance of their voices.
Sources:
Huynh, B. H. Q., Chin, E. T., & Spiegel, P. B. (2023). No evidence of inflated mortality reporting from the Gaza Ministry of Health. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02713-7
One in 100 people in Gaza have been killed since October 7. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/08/middleeast/gaza-death-toll-population-intl/index.html
Journalist deaths: https://cpj.org/2024/01/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/
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