Palestinian film Gaza 13, directed by Hossam Abu Dan, has won the NETPAC Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, which concluded on Sunday, securing one of the prizes dedicated to cinema from Asia and the Pacific. The film’s English title is Thirteen in Gaza, and it is Abu Dan’s first feature-length fiction film.
Gaza 13 filmed in the Strip and the story of Raghad
The film was shot entirely in the Gaza Strip with a local Palestinian crew. It is also the first feature film to be shot in full in the Strip in 12 years, according to specialist film-industry reports. The film centres on Raghad, a 13-year-old girl entering puberty who lives with her father in a displacement camp after their home was destroyed.
The girl tries to cope with the changes she is going through in an environment lacking privacy and safety, while her father seeks to protect her and provide for them both. The Toronto festival hosted the film’s world premiere this September as part of the Centrepiece programme. The film presents daily life in Gaza from the perspective of someone living in the Strip, rather than addressing the war from an external viewpoint.
Abu Dan: Palestinians tell their own story
Abu Dan told Reuters that it was important for Palestinians to tell their own story, using the language and approach they considered appropriate to express it. The NETPAC Award is presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian and Pacific Cinema and is awarded to the best Asian film by a director making their first or second feature-length fiction film.
The award jury praised Gaza 13, saying it turns suffering into cinematic images that capture life in all its complexity without turning it into a “spectacle”. It also described the film as a “brave” work offering a new cinematic voice. The film was made under war-related production conditions, during which the crew faced displacement, difficulties travelling, power cuts and disrupted communications, as well as shortages of the equipment and resources needed for filming.
Abu Dan said the team’s greatest fear was that they might be unable to complete filming, amid the constant fear that events could prevent them from finishing the film. Gaza 13 had secured worldwide distribution rights before its screening in Toronto.
After its participation in the festival, Watermelon Pictures announced that it had acquired the film’s screening rights in North America. The prizes at the 51st Toronto festival included the top audience award, which went to La Bola Negra, meaning “The Black Ball”, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi.
Simon Stone’s Elsinore won the audience award in the international films category, while Darlene Love: Know Where You’ve Been received the audience award for documentaries. The Midnight Madness award went to Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, while the Indian film Ang, directed by Theja Rio, won the Platform Award.
