A still from the documentary 'Gaza', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
A new documentary called 'Gaza' is hitting the screens at the Sundance Film Festival this week, but one of its main stars won't be attending due to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
A new documentary called "Gaza" is hitting the screens at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this week, providing a colourful glimpse of life in the Israeli-blockaded territory.
But one of its main subjects, Gaza actor and playwright Ali Abu Yaseen, won't be attending the gathering due to the very circumstances depicted in the film.
Abu Yaseen had hoped to make his first-ever trip to the US to take part in the festival. But the continued closure of Gaza's only land border with Egypt made it impossible for him to reach Cairo in time to receive a visa from the American Embassy needed to travel to Utah.
"Gaza," a 90-minute film, is among 12 contestants in the World Cinema Documentary competition at Sundance.
Directed by award-winning Irish film makers Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell, the work takes a look at everyday life in Gaza, from wars and their traumas to young people's pastimes and aspirations.
Abu Yaseen, one of Gaza's most famous entertainers, said the film shows that Gazans "can sing, present an important theatre and smile in the face of the unjust world."
Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with Gaza after Hamas seized power there in 2007 following bloody fighting against forces of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah. Abbas' Western-backed Palestinian Authority has controlled parts of the occupied West Bank since then.
Three large-scale military operations in Gaza by Israel have killed thousands of civilians since 2008, with Gaza's economy in tatters, electricity supplied for half a day at best and tap water undrinkable.
"I don't know how the system works here. There is something wrong," he said, directing his anger at Hamas.
"They should have pleaded with me to travel and represent Palestine because this film is more important than 1,000 or a million bullets."
Iyad al-Bozum, spokesman for Hamas' Interior Ministry, said he was unaware of Yaseen's case, but noted that the crossing can only handle a small fraction of applicants.
In 2017, the Palestinian Authority regained partial control of the Rafah border crossing in a deal with Hamas. But on 6 January, just when Abu Yaseen and a freelancer who worked on the film registered to travel to Cairo, the Palestinian Authority withdrew from the crossing to protest what it called Hamas' "abuses and harassment."
Yaseen had visited Europe, but never been to America. He was excited for the trip and was reading about Utah, learning, for example, that it's almost half the size of Iraq.