An exceptional documentary for history
On Tuesday night we went to sleep devastated after seeing Inside Gaza, the documentary that collects the testimony of Palestinian journalists from Agence France Presse who were working inside the conflict zone until their evacuation. It also compiles all their audiovisual material, much of it previously unpublished. Finally, one Non-fiction Powerful and timely, with a subsequent analysis table.
This is one of the rare occasions when it's fully justified that news professionals become the protagonists of the story. First, because they have been exceptional witnesses in an area where Israel did everything possible to prohibit access to journalists and murdered those already inside. The protagonists have been the exceptional eyes that have acted as notaries of the degradation and horror. All the film and photographic material, well selected, organized, and contextualized, is shocking. There is a sequence, towards the end, that unites the pile of images of corpses wrapped in white sheets. It is a tiny approximation compared to reality, but nevertheless produces in the viewer a saturation effect that allows us to approach the daily omnipresence of death.
Inside Gaza It delves into multiple directions, both in the realm of war and journalism. On the one hand, it's striking how the sense of fear permeates the screen: buildings collapsing, the progressive degradation of cities, and the proliferation of terror and misery. As the story progresses, we witness the deteriorating lives of the protagonists and the Palestinians. On the other hand, aspects such as the right to information, attacks to silence journalists and kill their families, and the disavowal of their work explain new ways of fighting back. The documentary uses the example of photographs to explain in detail how their material was discredited. Regarding the image of a dead child, one of the journalists recalls how he was asked to prove that the creature was not a doll.
These two main narrative threads, that of war and that of information, inevitably converge. In the face of the greatest atrocity, the line separating professional and personal life is blurred. We see journalists crying, running for their lives, grieving for their children, burying colleagues and family members, and surviving in unsanitary and precarious conditions to continue reporting on what's happening around them.
Inside Gaza It is a unique document, for everything it reveals about this brutal conflict, for its historical value, but also for everything it warns us about for the future. Like news blackouts, attempts to silence the press and annihilate journalists are the most effective strategy for exterminating a population and ensuring a single version of the story.