The opening documentary of this year’s SAFAR Film Festival is a moving, first-person account of Mohamed Jabaly’s experience of travelling abroad and finding himself stranded, unable to return to his home in Gaza, forced to watch war unfold through his phone screen, and the community that forms around him as he fights to remain in a country that considers him stateless.

Palestine is at the heart of this year’s SAFAR Film Festival, the largest festival in the UK dedicated to cinema from the Arab world. Against the backdrop of genocide in Gaza and the escalation of violence across the region, the thoughtfully chosen theme for this year’s programme, ‘on dreams, hopes and realities’, invites us to consider art as a form of resistance, an opportunity to connect with persecuted communities, and to reflect how hopes and dreams can coexist with harsh realities.  

When Mohamed Jabaly left his native city of Gaza in 2014 to visit a film festival in the Norwegian city of Tromsø he had planned to be away for one month. Little did he know that the closure of the Rafah Crossing, the sole border crossing between Egypt and Palestine, would prevent him from returning to his homeland and his family for over seven years.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is a diarised, first-person documentary of Jabaly’s experiences during this time. It captures his fractured, war-interrupted phone calls to family back in Gaza, the creation of his now internationally acclaimed first film AMBULANCE and his fight with Norwegian bureaucracy to be granted temporary residency to the country through an artist visa.

Jabaly’s experiences offer a deeply personal insight into the impact of geopolitical destabilisation on individual lives. When his tourist visa expires, his Palestinian nationality is unrecognised and he is considered stateless. Applications for an artist visa are rejected, as despite becoming an award-winning director during this time, his lack of formal film education makes him ineligible.

The documentary is both heartwarming and heartbreaking in its authenticity. Many of the shots are self-filmed, with Jabaly turning the camera on himself as he reacts to news from Gaza or the latest update on his visa status. It is raw and vulnerable film making.

Yet despite the challenges and uncertainty he faces, Jabaly’s warmth and relentless optimism is a guiding light throughout. Moments of humour regularly break through, and the filmmaker’s infectious smile makes LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL surprisingly feel good. It is a stark reminder of the people and lives that exist behind political conflict, a love letter to the Palestinian identity Jabaly refuses to give up on.

In the concluding scenes, we find out that Jabaly is finally allowed to return to Gaza. His brother waits on the other side of the border as the much-anticipated homecoming is delayed by unpleasant questioning from border officials and hours of detention. This final hurdle is the only point at which we see anger from Jabaly – to be treated like this so close to his own home almost feels like the biggest injustice of all.

It is heartbreaking to think that more than ten years since Mohamend Jalaby first left Gaza for Tromsø, war and genocide continues to impact the lives of Palestinians daily and the Rafah Crossing remains the only crossing point for humanitarian aid.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is the perfect opening film for this year’s SAFAR, leading a bravely curated programme celebrating Palestinian culture, its people and their relentless fight for freedom.

The SAFAR Film Festival is running from 18-30 June 2024 in cinemas across London and the UK. Find out more and view the full programme here.

Words by Ellen Hodgetts