“Hope is the Last to Die” is not just a Palestinian documentary, but this work captures the viewer from the first moment; amidst the scenes of war and destruction that befell Gaza and its people, the spirit of steadfastness and hope is evident among Palestinian families sitting among the remains of their demolished homes, their eyes fixed on screens that tell their stories.

The film, which was shot by Palestinian director Mohammed Al-Sahli using artificial intelligence technology and dedicated to the innocent victims of Gaza, was released on YouTube on Sunday in Arabic and English versions, as a witness to the power of creativity in the face of death and destruction.

It documents stories of love and hope filmed by young Palestinians in the shadow of war, and they are called “Zero Distance Films.” They were screened by the Jerusalem Film Festival, which insisted on holding its eighth session in the middle of the Gaza Strip during the past few days, between July 25 and 29. As the voiceover for the film states: “In Gaza today, we see that film is stronger than war, and that creativity has overcome destruction.”

Dr. Ezz El-Din Shallah, head of the Jerusalem Film Festival, wrote about it on his Facebook account: “The film shows how people gather to watch films, ignoring the sounds of explosions, as each screening becomes a victory of human will over violence. The work highlights that the power of art and creativity is greater than the power of weapons, and that culture is the weapon of resistant peoples.”

Palestinian director Mohammed Al-Sahli, who lives in Sweden, says that he was amazed by people coming to watch films amidst the destruction and death, so he thought of “making a film that documents this exciting situation.” He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “It was actually difficult to reach Gaza and film there, and artificial intelligence enabled me to produce this work in very difficult psychological conditions, but we wanted everyone to see that Palestinian creativity cannot be stopped in the darkest of circumstances, and to draw the world’s attention to the situation in Gaza and the importance of cultural struggle, because a people who produce culture cannot die.”

Regarding the way the film was executed, he explains: “It went through several stages, the first of which was my writing the script, then planning and designing the images and backgrounds, and then executing them using 3D technology, moving each shot independently, then the editing process and choosing the voices for commentary in Arabic and English, which were also chosen through artificial intelligence and not for real people. After that, I added the sound effects and installed them in the appropriate place.”

The Palestinian director appreciates the courage of the head of the Jerusalem Film Festival, Ezzedine Shallah, who says: “I have known him for years and I am confident that if he insists on something he will do it, to hold the first festival in the world under bombardment and aggression.”

Al-Sahli directed about 12 documentaries that were shown on European television and won many awards, perhaps the most recent of which was the film “P-Class Women” about women who were forced to change their identities because their lives were threatened by their husbands.

For his part, Dr. Ezz El-Din Shallah told Asharq Al-Awsat that “despite the circumstances of war, destruction and instant death in Gaza, Palestinian intellectuals agreed on the importance of holding the festival to challenge death with life, as we are a people who love life.” He pointed out that “the festival had a great impact on the displaced and afflicted audience as they watched films about their lives made by 22 directors in harsh conditions.”

The head of the Jerusalem Film Festival considered the title of the eighth session, “Creatives Despite Refuge,” to show the insistence on creativity, and praised the role of the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, which cooperated with them, as well as the “Youth Vision” Association, saying that “the festival and the film carry a message to the world that in the shadow of war and destruction, we demand life because we believe that it triumphs over death.”