Gaza. A letter from the past

The touring festival, which was created and developed exclusively as a result of grassroots initiatives, in 2026 will visit more than forty towns throughout Poland — including Tarnowskie Góry. The partners of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights — co-organizers of the touring festival in individual cities — select films from the repertoire of the last edition of the Warsaw IFF WATCH DOCS.

Check out the best documentaries on human rights in the “Giant” Discussion Film Club.

Kamal Aljafari, one of Palestine's best-known documentary filmmakers, returns in his latest film to footage he shot in Gaza in 2001. Accompanied by the eponymous guide, he tried to find a friend in the city, whom he had met in an Israeli prison. Today, a quarter of a century later, he is trying to re-read the past of a place that has ceased to exist. Aljafari's documentary is an incredible journey through time, allowing us to really feel the pulse of the life of this enclave. From seaside beaches to noisy bazaars, frenzied traffic and the burnt-out ruins of bombed houses, everywhere you can feel the hectic atmosphere of life on the edge, in a vague sense of anticipation. The inhabitants of the city are so accustomed to war that most can recognize by the sound of a distant explosion whether it is “ours” or “theirs”.

2025 | Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar | dir. Kamal Aljafari | duration 106 min | documentary

Description: Konrad Wirkowski Age: 15+ Coordinators: Katarzyna Filak, Aleksandra Jasiurkowska

Admission to all film screenings and accompanying events is free (free tickets can be downloaded at the TCK box office)

The organizer of the festival is the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.