Speakers: Sarah Agha, Maryam Ghorbakarimi

Astoundingly, during 2026, under the constraints of siege, chronic electricity shortages, and the scarcity of professional filming tools, a 9 month film training programme for 25 emerging women filmmakers has taken place in Gaza.

The ‘Through Their Lens’ training programme has been organised, defying all the odds, by the Gaza International Women’s Film Festival, with renowned filmmaker, Mai Masri, and other prominent Palestinian creatives.

‘Through Their Lens’ has equipped women with essential skills in all aspects of filmmaking, enabling them to produce short films and articulate their lived experiences during a period marked by war, displacement, and severe infrastructural collapse.

They have transformed their surrounding challenges into creative strategies and turned them into a laboratory of creative resistance – truly creating life from death.

We will be showcasing and discussing a selection of the films made by the women trainees.

Similar screenings will also be held in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

This film is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.