Gaza's Obliterated Families

"Gaza is much more than we usually see in the news," says French documentary film maker Anne Paq.

So when she returned to Gaza in 2014, after the ceasefire that brought the worst of the recent violence to an end, she was determined to capture the reality of re-building a life from the rubble of another war.

"I was shocked to see all the international journalists gone, while the real struggle of the people there just began."

Her desire to capture the day-to-day lives of this struggle, formed the basis of her web documentary, Obliterated Families, which will be screened in Paris on Monday 12 December.

Along with Palestinian-Polish journalist Ala Qandil, the pair interviewed and photographed Palestinian families whose lives were shattered during the Israeli military offensive on 2014.

Each of the ten chapters tells the story of a different family.

In one portrait, the Shuheibar family remembers the missile that landed on their family home, as five children were feeding the pigeons on the roof. Three of the children were killed, and two seriously injured.

The family has since brought a legal case against the French company Exxelia Technologies for complicity in war crimes and manslaughter. The discussion that will follow next week's screening in Paris will be an opportunity to hear from the families themselves, the two film makers and human rights activists.

If you're not in Paris for the screening, the Obliterated Families website also presents texts and videos that accompany the chapters of the documentary.

Obliterated Families will be screened at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris on Monday at 7pm, free entry and doors from 6.30pm. The screening wil be followed by a discussion. 

The event entitled, 'Gaza: Families fighting for justice' is organised by the online magazine Orient XXI, ACAT (Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture), CCFD-Terre Solidaire and the Institut du Monde Arabe.