Tears of Gaza

The 2008 Israeli attack on the densely populated Gaza Strip claimed many civilian victims, including hundreds of children. The Norwegian makers of directed their camera at some of them - all indelibly scarred by the war of the previous winter. Amira wants to become a lawyer to help the victims find justice; Yahya wants to become a doctor to help the wounded. For now, life just goes on. Yahya's family enjoys a lavish wedding party, but his father is no longer around and the Israeli helicopters overhead are a continual reminder of his hopeless situation. Scenes of daily life and conversations with fathers and mothers alternate with shocking, up-close footage of the bombardments. Equally shocking is the way death and destruction surrounds and shapes these young children - and this is the central theme of the film. The filmmakers do not shy away from using emotion-triggering techniques: dramatic music accompanies scenes of innocent children walking past their ruined home, and there are close-ups of wounded and dead toddlers in the hospital. But this outpouring of suffering is first and foremost an indictment of Israeli violence. Despairingly, a young father wonders, "Are these children fighters that should be killed?"