Aisheen [Still Alive in Gaza]

A situation report from the Gaza Strip in February 2009, just one month after the end of Israelʼs military offensive.

Destruction everywhere. The bombs did not even spare the theme park. The ghost train is out of order. But hasnʼt Gaza itself become a ghost town? Yes and no. Amid ruins, grief and despair, there are people who refuse to give up. Calmly and unspectacularly, without analysis or agitation, this film shows what it means to rebuild oneʼs life and daily common existence in a destroyed region that is cut off by an ongoing blockade. It transmits diverse impressions and voices from Gaza: children who have lost their relatives and young people who do not feel like taking a compulsory vacation, clowns who despite the nearby rocket fire still manage to make children laugh, and the politically-committed Darg Team rappers whose music is polarizing. It not only shows places such as the border crossing into Egypt, the hospital, the UN Food Distribution Center, the smugglersʼ tunnels and the refugee camps, but also the beach and the zoo. Thatʼs where the skeleton of a whale is being reconstructed. A beautiful image, despite everything.