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LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

A Letter to Gaza

In 2014, Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly was on an exchange in Norway when the borders of his home Gaza were closed. After the Gaza border was closed and the Norwegian government refused to accept his Palestinian passport, he was rendered stateless. The film captures his personal struggles with displacement, his efforts to continue his film career, and his enduring connection to his family and homeland.

THE FILMMAKER

Mohamed Jabaly is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer, and artist from Gaza City. He came to Norway in 2014 and has since made a name for himself in the international film industry. His first full-length documentary, Ambulance, has been shown at several of the world's largest film festivals and has won several awards. These include the One World Media Award for Best Feature Documentary at BAFTA in 2017, the BBC Arabic Young Journalist Award, the SunBird Award at Days of Cinema in Palestine, the FIPA D'or Award, and the Jury Award for Best Documentary at FIPA in Biarritz, France in 2017. In addition to his work in filmmaking, Mohamed has conducted filmmaking workshops for young people and served on juries for several film festivals. Currently, he is pursuing his MA in Fine Art at the Oslo National Academy of Art. He holds a BA in Moving Images from Nordland Film & Art College in Northern Norway. In 2019, he joined Stray Dogs production as a director, and released Life Is Beautiful as his first project.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

IDFA Award for Best Directing - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Netherlands
Best Film Award - Prague One World Film Festival, Czech Republic
Hera "Nuovi Talenti" Award - Biografilm Festival, Italy
Grand Prix Gilda Vieira De Mello Award – Int’l Film Festival and Forum on Civil Rights Geneva
National Lottery Prize – Docville
Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF), US
Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway
Göteborg International Film festival, Nordic Documentary Competition, Sweden
Human International Film festival, Norway
FIFDH Geneva, In Competition, Switzerland
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: A LETTER TO GAZA

Catalog # EPF16091 ● ISBN: 978-1-963201-31-4 ● UPC: 6-82086-16091-7 ● NTSC

93 Minutes ● Copyright 2023 ● Arabic, English Subtitles

For purchase orders, to book screenings and for other inquiries, please contact:
Larry Rattner - larry@epfmedia.com

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