A Gaza Weekend – REVIEW
Image: A GAZA WEEKEND film still, - Palestinian Film Festival
This is a drama/comedy with dry, cheeky humour which feels dark and allegorical in light of the current situation in Gaza. The film was made in 2022 and it’s hard not to feel the sense of irony, even prescience that flows unintentionally (perhaps?) through it.
However, A Gaza Weekend definitely has a lot of intentional irony. The premise is that a highly infectious virus has permeated all of Israel forcing it to shut down and effectively imprison its citizens. Surrounding countries have shut their borders in response to a UN embargo on all transport in and out of Israel.
Gaza is now the safest place in the region.
A British journalist, Michael (Stephen Mangan) and his Israeli girlfriend, Keren (Mouna Hawa) have become trapped in Israel and are looking for a way to escape. He is placid and credulous while she is effervescent and dubious.
Meanwhile in Gaza, two hapless friends, Waleed (Adam Bakri) and Emad (Loai Nofi), who go from one failed money-making scheme to another, stumble into people-smuggling as a new venture. They are inexperienced and inept, but enthusiastic regardless.
The two are under the constant watchful eye of an equally incompetent police chief, Samer (Samer Bisharat).
Michael and Keren are put in touch with the two novice smugglers, Waleed and Emad, and, after hasty arrangements, they begin a fraught, ill-planned, hazard-ridden journey from Israel into Gaza and, they hope, beyond.
The comedy is a mixture of slapstick, sly jabs, and very subtle social/political humour. Though it is difficult to laugh without feeling some solemnity, A Gaza Weekend does at least show a side to Palestinian people that the wider public might not often see.
