Festival opens in

Days

Hours

Life is Beautiful

Mohamed Jabaly

/ Norway, Palestine

/ 2023

/ 93 mins

/ Arabic, English, Norwegian

New Zealand Premiere

Stranded and stateless.

A young Palestinian filmmaker invited to tour Norway to share images of his hometown, Gaza, is stranded when the border closes indefinitely. Applying for residency, he finds himself stuck in the Arctic, stripped of his identity when Norway refuses to recognise an independent Palestinian state.

Thus begins a bureaucratic odyssey. Using his personal archive and video calls, he shares his longing for home, friends, and family, all while trying to adapt to life in the Arctic. As much a love letter to Gaza as to his adopted hometown, Tromsø, the film embodies the empowering force of storytelling.

1. Member / Passholder Login

If you are a member or passholder, you can get your special pricing by logging in first.
Consider buying a pass or membership to get the best prices!

Buy Tickets

Find out more on films tickets and passes, Doc Edge membership, and gift voucher information. Pre purchase passes, membership and gift vouchers in order to redeem.

Film Info

Director: Mohamed Jabaly

Producer: Kristine Ann Skaret, Sarah Winge-Sørensen

Country: Norway, Palestine

Language: Arabic, English, Norwegian

Year: 2023

Duration: 93 mins

Category: Bridges of Understanding

SHARE AND FOLLOW US

[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]

You may also like...

Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano

In the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion from 4 August 2020 in Beirut, a film crew is facing a serious dilemma: should they defy the chaos and move forward with the shooting of their film or surrender to the multiple crises that are spreading all over the country?

I Shall Not Hate

Surrounded by violence and oppression, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish chose education and tolerance. When war claimed his daughters, he responded with forgiveness. But peace must be a two way street.

Festival Winner

Mourning in Lod

The fates of three families are inextricably intertwined in a vicious cycle of violence in the city of Lod, Israel, where Israelis and Palestinians live side-by-side. The outpouring of love, anger, and forgiveness that follows offers a glimpse of morning light to offset a collective state of seemingly endless mourning.

Filmed over 21 years, the film follows Amichai Lau-Lavie from drag-queen rebel to rabbi, as he radically reinvents religion and ritual and stands up for peace.

Bye Bye Tiberias

Leaving her native village to follow her dream of becoming an actress, Hiam Abbass also left behind her mother, grandmother and seven sisters. Thirty years later, her filmmaker daughter Soualem returns with her to journey through the vanished places among the scattered memories of four generations of daring Palestinian women.

Journalist Sean Langan goes into Russia’s heart of darkness, travelling inside Putin’s war on Ukraine in occupied Donbas. An intimate look at the human side of Russia’s war rarely seen in Western media.