Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone
{{short description|2025 documentary}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name =
| image = Gaza- How to Survive a Warzone title screen.png
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = {{plainlist|
- Jamie Roberts
- Yousef Hammash}}
| writer =
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| producer = Hoyo Films
| starring =
| narrator = Abdullah Al-Yazouri
| cinematography =
| editing =
| music =
| studio =
| distributor = BBC Two
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2025|02|17|United Kingdom|ref1=}}
| runtime = 59 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone is a 2025 British documentary film co-directed by Jamie Roberts and Yousef Hammash from Hoyo Films. The documentary was commissioned by BBC Current Affairs and This World for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The film follows the lives of four young people living in the Gaza war. BBC pulled the film from its iPlayer after it was reported that the film's narrator was allegedly the son of a Hamas official.
Synopsis
The film follows four young people as they navigate life in Gaza:
- Abdullah Al-Yazouri: A 13-year-old boy who lives in a tent after being forced to evacuate his home. Abdullah also serves the film's narrator, and his father, who does not appear in the film, is Gaza's deputy agriculture minister.
- Renad: A 10-year-old girl who copes with the conflict by creating a cooking show on TikTok, and who celebrates the April 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel.
- Zakaria: A mischievous 11-year-old boy who volunteers at Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital as a paramedic's assistant.
- Rana: A 24-year-old woman who gives birth during the war and struggles to care for her newborn child.
The film depicts their daily lives, marked by air strikes and efforts to maintain normalcy, and captures moments of hope amidst the destruction.{{cite web |title=BBC Two announces new documentary by award-winning filmmakers Jamie Roberts and Yousef Hammash |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/jamie-roberts-yousef-hammash-bbc-two-documentary |work=BBC Media Centre |publisher=BBC |date=20 January 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}}
Production
For nine months the film was filmed by two Gazan cameramen, Amjad Al Fayoumi and Ibrahim Abu Ishaiba, who were remotely directed by Jamie Roberts and Yousef Hammash. Roberts called it "the only truly observational film in Gaza during the conflict" due to foreign journalists being banned from entering Gaza during that time.
After the film's controversial release, the BBC demanded a "full audit of expenditure" from Hoyo Films. The BBC paid £400,000 to Hoyo to produce the film, and Hoyo paid Abdullah's mother £790 for her son's narration.{{cite news |last1=Mendick |first1=Robert |title=Revealed: How much Hamas official's family was paid for BBC Gaza documentary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/05/how-much-hamas-official-son-paid-for-bbc-gaza-documentary/ |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=The Telegraph |date=5 March 2025}}
Reception
=Critical response=
Jack Seale from The Guardian gave the film 5/5 stars, praising its depiction of children dealing with bombing attacks with matter-of-fact bravery and determination to smile.{{cite news |last1=Seale |first1=Jack |title=Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone review – these incredible children offer a sliver of hope |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/17/gaza-how-to-survive-a-warzone-review-these-incredible-children-offer-a-sliver-of-hope |access-date=1 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=17 February 2025}}
Anita Singh from The Daily Telegraph gave the film 4/5 stars, praising its overall value and emotional impact but felt the inclusion of adults' stories next to children's stories felt misplaced. She argued this led to "glaring" omissions such as not exploring the single mother's views of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.{{cite news |last=Singh |first=Anita |title=Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, review: a heartrending account told by a 13-year-old boy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/gaza-how-to-survive-a-warzone-bbc-two-review/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}}
=BBC controversy=
Soon after the film was released, the activist and journalist David Collier reported that the film's narrator Abdullah was the son of a Hamas official.{{cite news |last=Sabbagh |first=Dan |title=BBC pulls Gaza documentary featuring child whose father was Hamas minister |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/feb/21/bbc-pulls-gaza-documentary-iplayer-hamas |work=The Guardian |date=21 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}} His father, Ayman al-Yazouri, is a deputy minister for agriculture in the Hamas administration, although he has also been described as a "technocrat with a scientific rather than political background".{{cite web |last1=Mulla |first1=Imran |title=Palestinian deputy minister at heart of BBC Gaza documentary row studied at UK universities |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-minister-heart-bbc-doc-row-worked-uae-and-studied-uk-universities |website=Middle East Eye |access-date=4 March 2025 |language=en |date=20 February 2025}} Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK, Israel, and other countries. Danny Cohen, a former BBC controller, led criticism of the BBC for not disclosing this before transmission. After the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis reported that the film translated the Arabic word for Jews ({{transl|ar|Yahud}} or Yahudy) to Israelis, and the word jihad to "battle" or "resistance", critics accused the BBC of "whitewashing" Gazan views.{{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=Neil |last2=Makoii |first2=Akhtar |title=BBC removed references to 'Jews' and 'jihad' in Gaza documentary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/25/bbc-whitewashed-anti-semitism-gaza-documentary/ |access-date=4 March 2025 |work=The Telegraph |date=25 February 2025}}
The BBC stated that it was not informed about the narrator's connection to Hamas by the film's production company. The BBC initially added a message to the program clarifying the family link, but later removed the film from iPlayer so it could perform further due diligence.{{cite news |last=Youngs |first=Ian |title=BBC pulls Gaza film as it carries out checks over Hamas links |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clydv5yngq4o |publisher=BBC |date=21 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}} Following a review, the BBC said it found "serious flaws" in the documentary's production process and would perform a full audit on the film's expenditures.{{cite news |last1=Whitehead |first1=Jamie |last2=Gillett |first2=Francesca |title=BBC review finds 'serious flaws' over Gaza documentary |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07zz5937llo |publisher=BBC |date=28 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}} Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy held a meeting with the chair of the BBC about the film.{{cite news |last1=Cooper-Fiske |first1=Casey |title=Culture Secretary summons BBC chair to 'urgent' meeting over Hamas-linked film |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/bbc-lisa-nandy-hamas-documentary-gaza-warzone-b2706601.html |access-date=4 March 2025 |work=The Independent |date=28 February 2025 |language=en}}
Others defended the film, emphasizing its value in humanizing Palestinian children and providing insights into life in Gaza. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, expressed regret over the film's removal and stressed the importance of an independent review. Richard Sanders, a Gaza documentary filmmaker and journalist, called the BBC's decision to pull the film "cowardly".{{cite web |last=Mulla |first=Imran |title=BBC slammed for pulling film that 'humanised Palestinian children' |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bbc-slammed-pulling-film-humanised-palestinian-children |work=Middle East Eye |date=21 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}} Artists for Palestine UK published an open letter criticising the campaign against the documentary.{{cite news |last=McIntosh |first=Steven |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3374xm65mvo |title=BBC criticised by 500 media figures for pulling Gaza documentary |publisher=BBC |date=27 February 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025}} Pro-Palestinian protesters projected the film onto the BBC Scotland headquarters in Glasgow while chanting anti-BBC slogans.{{cite web |last1=Newman |first1=Ed |title=Activists project censored Gaza documentary onto BBC Scotland building |url=https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/377832-activists-project-censored-gaza-documentary-onto-bbc-scotland-building |website=Radio Havana Cuba |access-date=4 March 2025 |language=en |date=3 March 2025}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{IMDb title}}
- [https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-palestinian-child-centre-documentary-row-holds-bbc-responsible-fate Abdullah Al-Yazouri's statement on the BBC controversy] to Middle East Eye
Category:2025 documentary films
Category:2025 television films
Category:2025 in British television
Category:British documentary films
Category:BBC television documentaries
Category:BBC Two original programming
Category:Documentary films about children in war
Category:Films set in the Gaza Strip