Gaza surf club

Gaza Surf Club

Come join us at Mo's Desert Clubhouse for the screening of Gaza surf club.

Trapped in “the world’s largest open-air Pr*son” and ruled by war, a new generation is drawn to the beaches.

Sick of occupation and political gridlock, they find their own personal freedom in the waves of the Mediterranean - they are

the surfers of Gaza.

SYNOPSIS

Gaza – a strip of land with a population of 1.7 million citizens, wedged between Israel and Egypt and isolated from

the outside world. 26 miles of coastline with a harbor that no longer services ships. Hardly anything gets into Gaza

and even less gets out. The young generation is growing up with very little perspective - occupied and jobless. But

against this background there is a small movement. Our protagonists are part of the surf community of Gaza City.

Round about 40 surfboards have been brought into the country over the past decades with great effort and despite

strict sanctions. It is those boards that give them an opportunity to experience a small slice of freedom - between the

coastal reminder of a depressing reality and the Israeli-controlled three-mile marine border.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

How can one make a story on Gaza without getting sucked into the politics of the land and the strife in the region?

While chatting with my Palestinian friend - a student from Gaza - over barbeques, I was fascinated by his rendition of

his “country” and everyday life in a devastated landscape from his relatively partial point-of-view.

While avoiding the overused narrative of the obvious grief and sorrow, I narrowed my questioning to his generation’s

hobbies and interests: I was amazed that surfing was a popular subculture.

That immediately stuck.

It’s such a stark contrast: A sport that more than any other embodies individual freedom and positivity, practiced in

one of the most isolated and war-ridden countries in the world.

It took us four years in the making (including a harrowing war in Gaza during 2014) to finally bring this film to fruition.

I reservedly believe that we managed to capture some incredibly engaging and unrepeatable moments that narrate a

story of a group of people whose similarities with our ‘human condition’ bring out the wrangling contrasts of our

differences.

-Philip Gnadt, Director

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