Known for his distinctive cinematic approach, Kamal Aljafari studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. He teaches at The New School in New York and the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin. He is a resident artist at the Académie des beaux-arts × Cité internationale des arts in Paris, and his films have screened widely and been featured in retrospectives at IndieLisboa and Madrid Cinematheque.
With Hasan in Gaza
With Hasan in Gaza
With Hasan in Gaza
Synopsis
Three MiniDV tapes filmed in 2001 resurface years later. A search for a former prison mate turns into a road trip across Gaza with Hasan, a local guide whose fate remains unknown. Reflecting on memory, loss and time, the film evokes lives and places that may never be found again.
Kamal Aljafari: ‘An homage to Gaza and its people, to all that was erased and returned to me in this urgent moment of Palestinian existence — or non-existence. It is a film about “the catastrophe”, and the poetry that resists. This is my first film, which I have never made.
If I had discovered this material five years ago, it wouldn’t have made sense as a film.’
— Excerpted and adapted from the press kit and Mona Sheded, ‘“The life we see in this film no longer exists”: Kamal Aljafari talks Locarno competitor “With Hasan In Gaza”’, Screen Daily, 8 August 2025. Quotations combined.
Festivals & Awards
2025 Locarno FF
2025 Toronto IFF
Director's Profile
Kamal ALJAFARI
Filmography
2003 Visit Iraq
2006 The Roof
2007 Balconies
2010 Port of Memory
2015 Recollection
2019 It’s a Long Way from Amphioxus
2020 An Unusual Summer
2023 Paradiso, XXXI, 108
2024 UNDR
2024 A Fidai Film
2025 With Hasan in Gaza
Credit
Producer／Scriptwriter／Cinematographer／Sound｜Kamal ALJAFARI
Music｜Simon FISHER TURNER, Attila FARAVELLI
Print Source
Flavia MAZZARINO｜kamalaljafari.productions@gmail.com