Ramy Youssef and Hiam Abbass are among the actors and directors backing the Gaza Cinema Academy, an initiative launched at the Venice Film Festival to support filmmaking in the Palestinian territory.
Co-founded by Palestinian directors Ezzaldeen Shalh and Mai Masri, it aims to provide film education and help emerging filmmakers develop and produce their work.
The academy’s supporters also include Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, whose films include The Voice of Hind Rajab, Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir and actor Saleh Bakri. Italian producer Graziella Bildesheim and Mad Solutions co-founder Alaa Karkouti are also involved.
Egyptian-American comedian Youssef co-created Ramy and worked with Abbass on the series, in which she plays his mother. The Palestinian actress is also known for playing Marcia Roy in Succession.
The academy formalises training already under way in Gaza. Its nine-month Gaza Filmmaking Diploma, combining theoretical and practical teaching, began in March with its first group of 25 young Palestinian women.
Shalh, who also founded the Gaza International Women’s Film Festival, outlined the academy’s aims in a statement announcing the launch.
“In Gaza, cinema is not merely an art form; it is a means of preserving memory, reclaiming our right to shape our own image, and giving a new generation the tools to tell its own story,” he said.
“We want the academy to open a window for young people and women in Gaza to learn, create and make their own films, and for their voices and images to reach the world. We invite our partners in institutions, universities and the international film community to be part of building this space.”
The academy is also developing a filmmaking degree to be accredited by Al Quds Open University. Alongside its teaching programmes, it aims to build partnerships that help filmmakers in Gaza take their work to festivals and audiences abroad.
Masri, whose films include the 2015 prison drama 3000 Nights, said in a statement: “We believe that creativity and cinema can empower, preserve human memory, and build bridges that transcend borders.”
A further presentation will take place at Venice’s Sale Docks space on Wednesday, alongside an event celebrating the second Gaza International Festival for Women's Cinema, due to take place in October.
The programme includes screenings of Maria Candelaria Palma Marcelino’s Flowers of My Country and Jacir’s Like Twenty Impossibles, with organisers inviting universities, film funds and cultural institutions to support the academy’s teaching and production work.
Two Palestinian films are among those premiering at this year's Venice Film Festival: Ahmed Hassouna's Citizen Osama and Muayad Alayan's Conversation With the Sea.
