Animated movie depicts Gaza's health woes

The shortage of staff, medications and electricity afflicting Gaza Strip hospitals had long been the subject matter of reports, protestations and news items. Now it forms the backdrop of a Palestinian animated feature film.

The film, slated to premiere in Ramallah on July 1, is directed by young Palestinian filmmaker Ahmed Habash, and titled "Fatana." It is based on a report by Physicians for Human rights, which described the case of a 28-year-old woman from Gaza with breast cancer.

Habash, a graduate of Bournemouth University who lives in the UK, says the woman had to overcome a long series of obstacles to be treated. "It took seven months for Gaza's impoverished healthcare system to diagnose her, not to mention that they squeezed her finances dry on the way; and then it took three months to get permits to be treated in Israel."

She only managed to traverse the red tape labyrinth with the help of PHR, he adds.

Habash worked on the 30-minute feature for over 18 months. "The main trouble was manpower," he says. "It's hard to find in Ramallah animators who would have the time and ability to join the project. I ended up animating the entire film myself."

He said the movie does not deal with the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. "It's about a woman from Gaza who has an entire life of her own," said Habash. "The point was to show she wasn't just another statistic."

Asked whether he would want to screen the film in Israel, Habash replied: "We would be happy to screen it there, so long as it's done in the proper context."