This film caused a tremendous sensation after being screened in the ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival. An Iranian director, living in exile, connects with a photographer who has been staying in Gaza since the outbreak of the war on October 7. The film adopts a format that combines video calls and photo essays conducted over the course of a year starting in April 2024, and several forms of media within the film reflect the desperate communication and dire circumstances. Both Farsi and Hassona have experienced war-like conditions since childhood and the two continue to have miraculous meetings, never knowing when they will end. Hassona, enduring a life close to famine, hopes above all for peace and the restoration of daily life. As Farsi laments and Hassona’s smile harbors a glimmer of hope, after watching the film, one cannot easily utter the phrase, “life must go on.” The events that unfold after the phone call inviting the photographer, Fatem Hassona to the film festival leave wounds on our souls. The sadness of those lost between ‘the belief that this too shall pass’ and ‘the promise to meet someday’ lingers on.
