Kamal Aljafari Documents a Vanishing Land In Exclusive Trailer Debut for With Hasan in Gaza

After two-and-a-half years of Israeli genocide rendering an endless stream of unconscionable images, any record of Gaza’s past has become all the more invaluable. It would be easy to grade Kamal Aljafari’s With Hasan in Gaza on such a curve—for capturing the region in 2001 amidst a comparatively easier time, it offers an outright ghostly experience. It would also disservice his expertly assembled work that, shot on almost inherently nostalgic MiniDV, takes us from the tranquility of beaches, markets, and card games to a detailed vision of Israeli shelling. Cinema Guild acquired With Hasan in Gaza last year, and we’re pleased to debut a trailer ahead of the film’s May 29 release at Metrograph.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Three MiniDV tapes of life in Gaza from 2001 were recently rediscovered. This footage, shot by filmmaker Kamal Aljafari, is now a testament to a place and time that no longer exists. What started as a search for a former prison mate from 1989—a man lost to time and war—led to an unexpected road trip from the north to the south of Gaza with Hasan, a local guide whose fate remains unknown. As the camera moves through Gaza’s streets and landscapes, it records fleeting moments of everyday life—fragments of a reality now irreversibly altered. With Hasan in Gaza transforms this forgotten footage into a cinematic reflection on memory, loss and the passage of time, capturing a Gaza of the past and lives that may never be found again.”

Watch the preview below: