Or what, should we start like this?
Of course she wants to call out to someone or have a chat.
This initiative was designed for women.
We chose to work with women, on account of the many difficult experiences
during the war;
like living in tents, they are facing many challenging circumstances.
There are many participants, for whom this was their first time drawing.
And their very first time participating in animated films.
This motivated us to work with several displaced women living in tents.
This group of people really need to be doing something with their hands.
To produce something that they want to communicate to society.
First we participated in character development;
So I designed a woman character dressed in the traditional peasant dress (thob).
I based the character off of one of my friends; she's a mother to a daughter
who is engaged to be married.
She's talking about the privacy or lack-thereof in the tents-
She's unable to speak freely with her fiancee,
her siblings always come out this or that side.
I also participated in some voice acting portraying an elderly woman, the eldest
in her family, so she gives advice to the younger girls and comforts them.
By God, fear not my darlings, God will provide reprieve, and we will return
to our homes and our loved ones and our country.
God willing, no one shall reprieve us but God.
Creating stop motion films can help with emotional release.
We provide paper, scissor and colors.
The women create the characters they want, convey the message they wish to express,
cut them out, color them and then place them on a background image-
what we refer to as decor.
They also prepare this background- tents or sitting rooms.
And they place the character and move it themselves, to convey their messages.
The challenges were sourcing the materials, particularly the pens and
colors, because of the war and nothing is coming through the border crossings.
As well as finding a space to host the activities-
Previously we would rent a classroom or a room that was fully equipped.
Now we make do with a tent or the corridor in a school-
and it's really cramped, making it difficult to work with the target group.
"It's so hard to speak with with my fiancé in this tent-
So please, take some cotton and stick it in your ears!"
Together hand and hand we can maintain a measure of privacy in the tents!
"Oh my, I can't wait to marry you off and be relieved of you!
My dear, this is how it is in the tents, aren't you living in one?
What do you expect!"
The women expressed that they don't want someone to come and talk
to them about their issues; they wanted to produce something to communicate
to others what they were living through, their trials and tribulations.
To convey their ideas, to say: "we are here, we exist, we can produce things,
we can make things, we can work,"
"My role is not just to sit around in the tents and cook and tend to the
children and that's it."
"No, I have my own challenges. and things I want to convey to
a broader audience, whether in the Arab world or internationally. "
Up until now, we have produced 3-4 stop motion films, sharing stories of displaced
people in tents in Deir El Balah.
These films participated in international film festivals.
And Arab film festivals.
The Ottawa film festival in Canada.
And the Audi Film Festival with the film Red Autumn.
Currently we are subtitling the films to submit them to film festivals
"By God, enjoy that toy, Uncle Mohamed!"
" Where are you going red!"
" Oh beloved father, thank you for the teddy bear!"
"It's hot man, leave people alone. The teddy bear was for his daughter!"
"Oh dear, we misjudged that poor man! We enjoyed our youth,
let others enjoy theirs too!.