Gaza Strip - Recent

Award-winning Israeli film director Ari Folman has poignantly highlighted the relentless cycle of war as the most horrific and useless thing, shedding light on the tragic reality of children as major victims of war, particularly evident in the Gaza Strip.

Folman, a veteran of the 1982 Lebanon War, is renowned for his film "Waltz with Bashir." He integrated animation and documentary in this film to offer a unique glimpse into his personal odyssey through the painful memories of that conflict. The film won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for an Oscar.

Folman had an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) 24 hours before Oct. 1, coinciding with Iran's large-scale missile strike on Israel, escalating tensions throughout the Middle East.

The director noted that many people share his view that war is disastrous but remain silent, while others may have lost empathy towards ongoing conflict in Gaza due to being shielded from the true toll of the war.

The director said nothing gives him hope this year as witnessing the recurrence of war, reminiscent of his time as a soldier in Lebanon, which left him haunted by painful memories.

Shotlist:
Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Recent:
1. Various of destroyed buildings, displaced people;
Tel Aviv, Israel - Sept 30, 2024
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Folman, Israeli film director (partially overlaid with shots 3-4/ending with shot 5):
"War is the most horrific, useless thing that humankind ever invented. I think children in general, since history, they're the major victims of war. They didn't choose to be where they were, where they are. And the fact that we have 15,000, at least, children in Gaza that were killed during this war, is a disastrous, and absolute disaster for me.";
[SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
FILE: Shujaiya, Gaza Strip - May 14, 2024
3. Various of children queuing to get food;
FILE: Gaza Strip - Jan 2, 2024
4. Various of children at temporary settlement;
[SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
FILE: Central Gaza Strip - Sept 2, 2024
5. Various of destroyed buildings, pedestrians, vehicles on streets;
Tel Aviv, Israel - Sept 30, 2024
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Folman, Israeli film director (starting with shot 5/ending with shots 7-8):
"But if you are a news watcher, like most Israelis, and you watch every day the eight o'clock news, you will have no clue whatsoever what is going on in Gaza. Nothing. And you will be told that the numbers are fake. They have nothing to do. And if you somehow happen to see bodies of children in Gaza, you will be told that it's AI. It never really happened. And if it did, it's not to that extent. So, it's really hard, I think, to create a movement of empathy towards what is going on in Gaza if they never screen what is going on in Gaza.";
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - Sept 10, 2024
7. Various of refugee camp, people walking through rubble;
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - Sept 17, 2024
8. Various of injured people in hospital;
Tel Aviv, Israel - Sept 30, 2024
9. Poster of "Waltz with Bashir";
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Folman, Israeli film director (starting with shot 9/partially overlaid with shots 11-12):
"My relapse memories, PTSD memories, are always on one stage, which is this current stage we are in today. It's before ground invasions. Because of my time in Lebanon as a soldier, we had this waiting period of six weeks before the army invaded to western Beirut, and the tension and the anxiety was piling up before the ground invasion. So I have this thing ever since -- it's 42 years now -- that whenever there is an expectation or a suspense before a ground invasion, either to Lebanon or like it was in Gaza nearly a year ago, I kind of freak out, because my memories flood me. I always wish that it will not happen again. But it always happens again.";
[SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
FILE: Gaza Strip - Oct 7, 2023
11. Various of explosion, plumes of smoke rising from buildings;
Beirut, Lebanon - Sept 27, 2024
12. Various of smoke rising after airstrikes;
[SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Oct 6, 2024
13. Various of displaced people fleeing on road strewn with rubble, children on street.

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