Israel under UN lockdown, Gaza the only safe place to hide from the virus...

'A Gaza Weekend' is postponed, but it shouldn't be. It's the comedy we need.

The release of the comedy ‘A Gaza Weekend’ has been postponed. I understand that theatres don’t want to be picketed, shot or bombed but it’s the damn digital release that’s being delayed.

It’s the right movie for the moment. It should be bought by a Jewish or Arab billionaire, and released online for free.

A GAZA WEEKEND

Blurb:

“Israel is on lockdown after the outbreak of a deadly virus and Gaza has become the safest place in the region, leaving a British journalist and his Israeli girlfriend trapped on the wrong side of the border. With no one else to turn to, they must entrust two Palestinian street merchants who promise a way out in exchange for much needed cash. What follows is a hilarious culture clash comedy-adventure.”

‘A Gaza Weekend’ was acknowledged at the Toronto International Film Festival:

“For its empathy and intelligence in capturing the zeitgeist, and with its daring approach to contemporary satire and world cinema, we award Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend the 2022 FIPRESCI Prize. Basil Khalil’s direction finds space for the more sorrowful, more tender moments of interpersonal crises even as he deftly escalates the bawdy humour on display, capturing the nature of survival as very serious and very funny business for these characters.”

THE COMEDY OF IRONIES

Director Khalil undoubtedly understands irony, and the message vehicle that comedy can be.

He’s ‘half-caste’, a descendant of imperialists and the oppressed. As female lead, he cast Mouna Hawa, a Palestinian.

His home town of Nazareth was allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan but remains under Israel’s control. The unfairness of the situation is emphasised by its tongue-twisting nickname, ‘The Arab Capital of Israel'.

He began shooting ‘A Gaza Weekend’ just before COVID became years of our lives. Add the current Israeli/Gaza War, and waiting for his movie’s public release must be like standing at an Israeli checkpoint.

I would have loved to laugh and vent at the ridiculousness of our world, the misnamed ‘rules based order’ that’s killing Israeli’s and Palestinians right now. Instead, all I can do is recommend that you cry during ‘Gaza Fights for Freedom’ and gain understanding through the fictionalised biopic of Nazareth, ‘The Time That Remains’ (try Netflix).