L’ultimo corto ci trasmette l’ottimismo di chi vuol continuare ad ogni costo. E’ il caso della squadra di calcio amputati della striscia di Gaza, che in Francia disputa una partita con la Nazionale amputati francese. Il documentario, Gaza, one football one leg, è l’occasione per conoscere le storie di questi ragazzi coraggiosi, privi di pietismi autocompiaciuti, contenti della loro esperienza e mai rassegnati ad una condizione causata dalle violenze dell’esercito occupante
A Catania, tappa del Nazra Festival Palestinese 3 février 2022
Gaza, one football, one leg – diretto da Patrice Forget – ci fa conoscere la squadra di amputati della Palestina, e il loro viaggio verso la sfida con la nazionale francese. Uno dei nostri vincitori, senza dubbio. Raggiunge vette emotive inaudite, e quando ci vengono presentati uno per uno i ragazzi, con le sovrimpressioni che riportano nome, età e causa dell’amputazione, beh… è quasi un sollievo apprendere che due di loro sono stati vittime di un incidente stradale e di un tumore. Perché tutti gli altri sono stati colpiti dai proiettili israeliani durante la Marcia del ritorno, che a partire da marzo 2018 portò a manifestare – pacificamente – decine di migliaia di persone lungo la recinzione che separa Israele dalla striscia di Gaza, ogni venerdì, per 86 settimane. Il bilancio fu di almeno 230 morti e oltre 30.000 feriti. Una mostra delle atrocità settimanale, che ogni venerdì aggiungeva nomi di uomini, donne, bambini, medici, giornalisti, ad una lista di vittime interminabile. E’ quindi bellissimo vedere questi ragazzi reggersi su una stampella mentre dribblano un avversario o esultano per un gol. Altro che Champions League.
RKO - laradiochesivede, Bari, ltaly 12 novembre 2021
A lively, joyful, but uncompromising film about what these young people trapped in the Gaza Strip are going through.
Leeds Palestinian Film Festival octobre 2020
Your Award is well deserved!
I have to confess that I had to be strong watching your Documentary because since I was a child I've been suffering from faintings seeing (even only going with my mind on) amputations, so, having read the title, I was afraid...
But I could face the unease, watching it with the hearth, thinking about those brave people, with their strength and their ability to smile and go on, despite their situation...
Sending good vibes to you, to them and for Palestine and the entire World's Freedom and Peace.
Looking forward for meeting you in Vegas next year!
"Of course, your beautiful, moving documentary "Gaza, one Football, One Leg" is the official selection.
We can't wait to celebrate with you in Las Vegas / 2021!"
Anabelle Munro ( CEO TMIF Festival Director) 11 août 2020
Alessandra Guarino (X World Film Festival Director) 2 juillet 2020
Linda 2 mai 2020
Few passionate about football but concerned about the Palestinian situation, I watched this film offered to me by the AFPS. Emotion!
- one-legged players who run like crazy on their crutches! Low hat. So I learned that there were teams for amputees.
- Surprise also by discovering that football can respond to its vocation as a popular sport can, on occasion, build solidarity between peoples (something other than the money machine of which the media speak)
- Last but not least, we cannot forget the faces and smiles of these young Gazans, their terrible testimonies but devoid of hatred while the majority of injuries and amputations are due to the Israeli army which seeks to render disabled as much as possible of Palestinians. Bravo to their courage and vitality.
They give us courage, the activists of France, to continue to hope and to support them.
Martine Millet (AFPS Yvelines, Paris) May 1, 2020
Thank you, thank you so much for this wonderful gift full of hope.
I watched it once, twice, three times ...
What emotion.
This film brought me tears, it hurt me very much and at the same time, it showed me the strength of these young people, the warm welcome in Martigues, the joy of these young people.
Hard ... hard ... and so strong! THANK YOU !
All the harder since the Palestinian news is not good, and I have a heartbroken to see this annexation which is preparing in silence ...
And I feel so helpless.
I hurt for my friends, my friends.
I hurt for all that I lived with them, shared,
heard, listened, given, received, yes, received ...
Thank you, you have to make it known ...
Sunday Shorts Film Festival (London) May 1, 2020
Really great subject.
The sequence on the ride was a bit misleading, I thought there was an accident on the ride, but perhaps that was the intention.
A bit too long, and not a clear protagonist to follow, but a worthy subject.
Bénédicte 24 avril 2020
I really appreciated the alternation of the sequences (interviews, presentation of each player, sequences of training then football matches, shots in Gaza, laughter and relaxation games, etc.). I also really like the quote from Mahmoud DARWICH (on hope).
Unfortunately, I expected to see during the match a large crowd present on the stands ... but the stadium is not even half full! .. What a shame that such an event, such a project had so little echoes and mobilization!…
Bravo for your film made with so few means, in such a short time…. He touched me a lot! ..
All the figures and info given throughout the film certainly allow to better understand the situation, to better understand the issues, but for my part, this is not what interested me the most being already well informed of my side. But these little reminders for some or new info for others, are not too much, since the particular situation of this territory and this conflict deserves these clarifications, to be certain that all the spectators will have in mind these some elements context to get the best out of your film.
This film shows the desire to continue living for the Palestinians, despite the situation which does not improve, the great precariousness which settles in their daily life… The amputee football players embody this idea of peaceful “resistance” through sport , sharing, the courage to move forward….
The players are touching in their singularity but also in what unites and connects them.
This film also allows us to meet Palestinians, from the angle of life, of humanity in them, that is to say football players, as there are everywhere in the world, who manifest an obvious pleasure to play, to try to win, happy to discover our country, because even if it is clearly stated where their injuries and amputations come from (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), this film offers us an "original" point of view On this Palestinian society which can fight in different ways.
A "big-little" movie to watch, too short in the end, we would like it to last longer, to have time to get to know each other better!
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM - France) 17 avril 2020
It's a documentary that leaves you speechless for a few minutes, after the credits.
So many right words, so much beauty in smiles, faces and bodies, so few pathos, and so much zest for life, just in 30 minutes, it's rare.
And all this just with a camera!
As many people as possible must see it, of course, and especially those who do not know.
Mireille 17 avril 2020
Thanks to the beautiful documentary by Patrice Forget, we can put names, faces and especially smiles on these figures. Their names are Mohammed, Khaled, Hassan or Naji, they are part of the Heroes Team, the first Palestinian football team of amputees from Gaza.
They expose their mutilated bodies with naturalness, and their agility is such that we forget that they are missing a leg or a hand. Their looks are grave when they tell of their life in Gaza, the brutality of the Israeli occupation, the day they were injured.
But they don’t feel sorry for themselves, they are proud of the resistance fighters who know their cause is just.
"We have known the pain, but we want to forget it," said Mohammed.
It's just a new life. Different, but worthy.
Using the eyewitness testimonies and personal reflections of the Gaza athletes, Patrice Forget was able to convey in detail the brutal nature of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the hardship of life in Gaza under the protracted Israeli blockade...
Patrice Forget’s film was not a celebration of victimhood, but a deserved acknowledgment of the courage and strong will of these young Palestinians, who insist on embracing life despite their seeming physical handicap.
The music for the film is Beethoven’s third piano trio, interpreted by the Palestinian Joubran Trio.
More informations :
The Palestine Chronicle 19 avril 2020
Gaza, one football, one leg
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