Mohamed Sawaf’s documentary feature Gaza Twins, Come Back to Me, which will make its world premiere in IDFA’s Frontlight section, has released its first trailer.
The documentary follows the journey of a war-torn family from the bombed streets of northern Gaza to overcrowded tents in the south, and from makeshift shelters to crumbling cities.
A month into the conflict, Rania gave birth to triplets in a besieged hospital. During the chaos, one of the newborns dies, and the surviving twins are separated from their mother and evacuated to the south, remaining trapped in the north.
The film follows the parallel lives of a mother and twins over the course of 16 months. Children grow up in front of the camera, take their first steps and say their first words against the backdrop of explosions. Moving from tent to tent, clinging to life, longing for a mother’s embrace. Meanwhile, Rania is separated from her babies at military checkpoints and wars, enduring displacement, starvation, and the pain of waiting to be reunited.
Sawaf is a Gaza-based filmmaker, producer and journalist with over 16 years of experience in documentary and media production. He has directed over 30 documentary films and regularly collaborates with international directors and producers to bring Palestinian stories to audiences around the world. Currently working on the feature film “Gaza Year Zero”.
His previous novels include “The Storyteller,” “Life Smuggling (Sperm Smuggling),” “Eleven Days of May,” and “Palestine Jailbreak.”
The producers are Mohammed Sawwaf, Salah Al-Haw and Ibrahim Al-Otla of Alef Multimedia and Sylvia Sahawneh of Al Jazeera English Witness. Executive producers are Alef Multimedia’s Sawwaf, Fiona Lawson-Baker of Al Jazeera English Witness, and Mohammed Al-Hamadi of Al Jazeera English.
Co-producers are Renko Douze and Hasse van Nunen of Een Van de Jongens.
