Two "honest, hard-working family men" from Gaza have helped bring the plight of the Palestinian people to the largest independent film festival in the United States but, in an ironic twist, they can't get there themselves.
Fady Hanouna and Ali Aby Yaseen have tried for months to get the necessary documentation and visas approved to accompany the film they worked on for four years to its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
But the duo can't break free of the very thing they've been railing against in the new documentary; they can't get out of Gaza to get to its premiere.
The border between Gaza and Egypt is closed, with no indication of when it will reopen.
Hanouna, 30, a production manager on the film, and Yaseen, who features in the film, were scheduled to travel to Cairo for their visa interviews on January 21. They were supposed to fly out for the US on January 24.
A week has now passed and there has been no change in Gaza. Alongside thousands of others desperate to cross the border, they wait.
"I don't know why Israel closes the border from the north ... Egypt is closing the border from the south, and from the west there is the sea. And from the east there are Israeli snipers," a frustrated Hanouna told The National. "It is my right to travel and it is my right to get a job and it is my right to live a decent life. It is my right to feel safe with my children and my family."
The US Embassy in Cairo has told the two men they could "be flexible" with their visa interviews if they arrived in the city soon, Hanouna says. However, the movie premieres at Sundance today and the border remains closed.
International travel is a foreign concept for Hanouna. He has never seen an airport in his life, let alone been on a plane – or even a train. "So I'm excited and afraid! But I want to try, I want to fly," he says.
He has worked on several films in Gaza, as a production manager and cameraman, but has never seen any of his own work as the territory doesn't have a cinema. So why is this time different? Why choose now to watch one of his movies from a seat in a cinema halfway across the world, in Park City, Utah?
"The film shows Gaza away from what you hear in the news every day – blood, wars and bombing," he says. "The film is far from politics and close to human."
And so, Hanouna and Yaseen are attempting to take matters into their own hands. They are documenting their efforts to get through the border on a vlog – The Long Road to Sundance – that can be found on YouTube.
But, so far, no amount of external aid has been able to get them through. Sundance has tried to help, to no avail.
"The [Sundance] Institute has been working tirelessly with government officials, individuals, and humanitarians to try to secure the safe passage of Fady and Ali out of Gaza," Sundance Film Festival documentary programmer Hussain Currimbhoy said. "The support we have received from the filmmaking and international communities has been overwhelming."
One of the movie's directors, Garry Keane, says he is frustrated that the two men cannot leave Gaza. "We have two guys, two honest, hard-working family men, who have done nothing wrong in their lives and have nothing political going on in their lives, they are as clean as whistles and we can't actually get them across the border to a film festival with two-and-a-half months of concerted efforts."
All Hanouna and Yaseen can do is sit and wait. And vlog. "I don't understand why I do not have 24 hours of electricity, why I can't travel? Why we don't have a job, why there are families [who] can't provide bread," says Hanouna.
"I know parents cannot look into the eyes of their children because they can't provide them with food. Believe me this is a good place; the people here love life, are educated, have a dream – just give us a chance!"
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19
July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US
Nov 16-18: Carioca Arena Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar 9-10: Copper Box Arena in London, UK
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Manchester United 2 (Heaton (og) 42', Lindelof 64')
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Teams
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Read more about the coronavirus
THE BIG MATCH
Arsenal v Manchester City,
Sunday, Emirates Stadium, 6.30pm