We are proud to announce our latest project: a new, urgent documentary that captures the eye-witness testimonies of some of the most prominent Western-based doctors who have worked alongside their Palestinian counterparts in Gaza.

Reporting from the ‘central
nervous system of Israel’s military campaign’

Our documentary compiles detailed, eye-witness testimonies from renowned medical experts, doctors who work in some of our most prestigious medical institutions. You’d put your life in their hands, and with Life Support you will hear them detail what they witnessed over several placements in Gaza, chronicling Israel’s systematic, intentional targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system, facilities and medical personnel.

Why are their testimonies important? Their powerful and revelatory testimonies fill a vital information vacuum created by Israel, which has intentionally barred international journalists, and human rights or forensic specialists, from entering Gaza. They corroborate often dismissed testimonies by Palestinian health workers. As a UN OCHA report states, international doctors are “vital witnesses to an unfolding genocide on the ground. In fact, they are probably one of the only demographic of workers who have had near-regular access to Gaza since the start of the present war”. It adds: “the hospital becomes a kind of node that registers multiple genocidal practices on the ground: revealing the ways in which policies like deliberate restriction of aid, famine, the disproportionate use of munitions, targeting of civilians—particularly children and women – forced evacuations and displacement, lack of clean water, sanitation, and fuel, among others things, all intersect and aggravate one another to systematically delete the Palestinian people.”

Life Support differs in fundamental ways from other films on similar topics:
– The doctors interviewed in Life Support are predominantly Western-based medical specialists in prominent medical institutions, whose powerful and revelatory testimonies fill a vital information vacuum created by Israel, which has systematically barred international journalists, and human rights or forensic specialists, from entering Gaza.

– It provides in-depth insights into the personalities and testimonies of each contributor, with the medics able to give testimonies based on their particular medical specialism (eg obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, emergency care, infectious disease, oncology, surgical interventions, palliative care, etc). Their testimonies provide a unique perspective into the long-term ‘medicide’ being committed by Israel, given the multiple deployments each doctor has had to Gaza since October 2023.

– Life Support will form an imperative record of the ongoing ‘medicide’ being committed by Israel and its Western-based supporter, and – naturally – pay tribute to the real heroes in all of this: the medics’ Palestinian counterparts, who have continued to work under siege, attack and starvation, and do not have the choice to leave Gaza for safety or respite.

The team

We are thrilled to be working with award-winning documentary filmmaker, Daniele Rugo, whose latest directorial work, The Soil and The Sea (2023)—featuring prose by celebrated writer Elias Khoury—uncovered Lebanon’s buried history, as the first cinematic record of mass graves from the country’s Civil War.

We are equally thrilled to have Masahiro Hirakubo on board as Editor. Masahiro has 30 years’ experience in film as an editor and has won an Oscar as editor of the documentary The White Helmets (2016) and was nominated for Virunga (2014), produced by Leonardo Di Caprio. A close collaborator of Danny Boyle, Hirakubo has edited some of Boyle’s most highly praised films, including Trainspotting and The Beach.

Endorsement from Palm d’Or-winning director,
Ken Loach

A responsibility for film-makers is to be a witness to the events of the day.

All the available evidence coming from Gaza indicates that a genocide is taking place in front of our eyes.  One day those responsible will be brought to account, international law will be restored, and justice will prevail.  It is important that the experiences of those who have witnessed these crimes at first hand is available as evidence when that moment occurs. 

This film could be critical in preserving such testimonies, alongside images and scenes that demonstrate the truth of what is being said.  It is therefore very important that this film and others like it are made, and kept safe for the future.
 
We must never forget what has been done in our name.
 
Please support the making of this film.

Ken Loach

If you are interested in supporting this critical documentary, please get in touch via the ‘Contact us’ link below.

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