Maricel Marbus

Centre for the Moving Image
Al Nada Neighbourhood, Northern Gaza, Palestine

“People from the outside countries, they can’t see other than the fact that we live in constant wars, and it bothers me so much. The only thing they give us is sympathy. They only see what they want to see. They should look deeper.” - Karma, Gaza Film (2019)

Gaza has not had a cinema in 30 years. Mainstream media exclusively focus on impersonal stories of humanitarian crisis and chaos. A counter narrative is missing for Palestine, and this can be empowered through making, watching and participating on film.

This thesis explores an alternative cultural narrative for Gaza, through the concept of social contracts, in order to shed terms such as empathy, shame, pity or compassion, that continue to be at the forefront of Palestinian stories. This contract will be facilitated through the study and celebration of the moving image, and will be analysed within the framework of contracts between people, places and a set of practices.

By creating a centre for the moving image, a space dedicated to film celebration, shared learning and participation, a new civic space is built, one that does not currently exist in Gaza, that can allow for new perspectives and new engagement within an urban environment and a digital environment.

Community sharing and community dependence is a form of resistance.