Documentary brings Palestinian stories to Oakland: ‘This is an education that Americans truly, truly need.’

The siege of Gaza played out before a packed house at Oakland’s Regal Jack London theater, where the documentary “Bisan,” created by Palestinian journalist and filmmaker Bisan Owda about her daily life, had a rare screening Wednesday.

Some in the audience cried softly as they bore witness to the horrors of Israel’s 2023-24 siege of Gaza: buildings falling, bombs exploding, children screaming.

The documentary was compiled entirely from social media clips shot by Owda. Her posts have found a large international audience. Owda’s reporting on the siege is followed by 1.2 million people on TikTok and has tallied 40 million views. In September, Owda received an Emmy award for hard news feature story in partnership with Al Jazeera for their documentary short about her family’s displacement from their home, “It’s Bisan From Gaza – and I’m Still Alive.”

Since then, the Israeli army has restricted or blocked most independent news coverage of Gaza. According to the United Nations, about 45,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 100,000 have been wounded and nearly 2 million people have been displaced.

The film highlights Owda’s life before the siege — enjoying the beach, working on films, planning for her future, and spending time with loved ones. 

“The Palestinian story tends to be told in small moments where people are in a hospital or buried under rubble, said Yusuf Omar, CEO of Seen TV, the producer of “Bisan.” “Zooming out to see their life over a period of time, not just 14 months of genocide, gives a far more holistic story of who they are.”

After the Oakland screening viewers gathered in small groups around the theater to engage in conversations surrounding the film. One of those was Dina Elnakhal. “I see my own children’s faces in the kids that were shown,” said Elnakhal, who is an avid follower of Seen Palestine — a division of Seen TV.  “It’s a voice that’s not heard and not seen. This is an education that Americans truly, truly need.”

Elnakhal said that while she’s seen the segments on social media, seeing them stitched together into a documentary was emotional for her.

“It left me with a sense of hope because I see people coming from different areas around California and the Bay Area to watch this and understand,” she said. “I think it’s touching that there’s a packed room where everyone had the same emotion as I did.”

Oakland was the sixth stop of Seen TV’s “Bisan” U.S. film tour, which began in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6 and ended in Irvine on Thursday.

Omar says part of the purpose in bringing “Bisan” and other citizen journalism to U.S. audiences is to better educate Americans on the suffering endured by Palestinian civilians.

“We’ve had Gen Z’s bring their parents and grandparents, and sometimes those folks have come kicking and screaming and are really reluctant to come,” Omar said. “They’ve ended the movie crying and donating to the cause.”

Rawan Eldadah, a Palestinian American who recently moved to San Francisco, attended the screening. Eldadah said six of her family members have been killed by Israel’s siege on Gaza, including her uncle Dr. Rafaat Lubad, the chief of internal medicine at Al-Shifa hospital. That hospital, one of the few operating in Gaza, was destroyed by Israeli soldiers in April.

Eldadah was warmed by the audience’s response to the film. “It’s really moments and events like this that make me feel like I’m not alone as much as I feel like I am in America.” 

She said peers have told her it’s not her responsibility to educate people about Gaza. But, she said, “They’re never going to see my perspective as a Palestinian.”

Omar said Seen Palestine is working with 50 paid Palestinian content creators in collaboration with journalists and video editors to publish on social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram. They have produced around 600 videos and garnered 1 billion views.

“Zionist media has had 70 odd years to bake in their narratives,” Omar said. “We have to approach it in a different way, and mobile phones is that way. It suddenly enables us to completely change the narrative.”

Seen Palestine plans to produce one documentary a month following the success of its first film, “Ahmad Alive,” and now their second, “Bisan.” 

(All photos by Franny Trinidad)

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